A Fully-Bloomed Lotus
by IllustriousPaladin
Summary: Lee has been missing for a long time, but now he's home - but that doesn't stop Guy from worrying that he isn't really. Emotions abound as Lee relearns what it means to be a Leaf shinobi while trying to define his relationship with Guy. [Naruto AU written by a fan who has not watched all of Part II. The rating is subject to change; suggestions are always appreciated!]
1. Chapter 1

Guy walked amongst his students as they practiced individual taijutsu exercises. Here and there, he offered advice and corrections, but overall, he found himself impressed. Each of them had progressed on their own path since the chūnin exams. He watched his female student practice a new jutsu and smiled affectionately. She especially had progressed; she was at a point now that Guy had to outsource her learning of new jutsu, specifically in fūinjutsu.

"Tenten, show me what you have been learning from Kakashi-sensei." He turned to his other students and instructed, "Neji, Lee, spar with each other." His attention moved back to the girl as she demonstrated the three new jutsu his rival had taught her – jutsu that had come to him from Minato Namikaze, to him from Master Jiraiya, to him from Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, who had received his knowledge from the First and Second Hokages. His heart swelled with pride as he watched her perfect execution of the jutsu. Tenten had worked so hard to get where she was, and she had truly become a rock-solid shinobi.

All three had worked hard, overcome many obstacles, and still had so much further that they could go. The youthfulness of his students truly warmed his heart.

He turned back to the loud sparring session occurring behind him only to be shocked. Lee was disappearing and reappearing almost faster than the eye could track as he attempted to counter and slip past Neji's Eight Trigrams Palm Revolving Heaven. Guy's eyes bulged as he watched his student begin opening the Second Gate.

"LEE!"

Lee slowed, his chest heaving from the exertion. Neji's defenses fell as Guy marched over and rounded on his young facsimile. Uncertain how to feel about this turn in Lee's behavior, he punched the boy in the jaw. His hand throbbing, he shouted at the boy, "What in the world do you think you're doing!?"

Lee scowled and rubbed his cheek before standing back up. "I am sorry, sensei. I was overzealous."

"Overzealous? You were about to open the Second Gate! Lee, you promised me when I taught you the Gates. What did you promise me?"

The boy looked away, clearly ashamed. "To only use the Gates to protect My Most Important Person."

"Exactly, you promised to use them either when _I_ told you to or in situations when something important is on the line. To use the Gates in a spar is selfish! What if you had hurt yourself? Or Neji?" He held his hand up, silencing the Hyūga who had opened his mouth to protest. "I know it is unlikely, but what if you had, Lee? A spar is not a battle. There is no danger, no need to fear for yourself or others. Nothing is on the line." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tenten, Neji, dismissed."

Lee's teammates gave him sympathetic looks before they left. Standing alone on the training field, the boy appeared upset. Unusually upset, in Guy's opinion. He looked at the angry place already beginning to swell on Lee's jaw and sighed again. "Lee, I'm sorry that I hit you, but you needed to understand that what you did was wrong." He was not apologizing for the type of punishment, and he hoped Lee recognized that. He was apologizing for the fact that he had to punish him. Typically at this point, the two could fall into each other's arms apologizing before a sunset, but the boy made no move toward him.

"Why did you fight for Neji's promotion?"

There it was. No apologizing, no acceptance of Guy's apology. In fact, the boy looked almost petulant. For the third time that afternoon, Guy sighed over his favorite pupil. "Did you use the Gates out of revenge or anger, Lee?" he asked slowly.

Lee did not hang his head this time. "All of us have worked hard since the chūnin exams. Why would you only fight for Neji to move on to chūnin level?" Guy stepped closer to the boy, intending to close the distance growing between the two, but Lee only turned his head in anger. The jōnin had to steel his heart to keep it from breaking as he stepped back.

"Lee, jealousy is unbecoming of you. You should want your teammates to succeed," he lectured. Rivalry was not easy, but it was something Guy understood deeply. Even in his youth, he had always wanted Kakashi to succeed so that he himself would have to do better, would have to be better, to gain on his eternal rival. "I know Neji is your rival, but you should view his success as a challenge for you to achieve more."

Lee continued to refuse to make eye contact with Guy, and the man shook his head. "Neji has grown a lot since the exams. Emotionally, he has grown. He's proven himself worthy of the additional responsibilities, and I have to say, Lee – you're acting like a child." He turned to leave the training field with the wish that Lee would say something in his own defense so that neither of them left the field angry. Perhaps he was abashed, or maybe he was sulking; either way, Guy hoped that he had gotten his point across and nipped this issue in the bud.

However, his hopes proved unfounded as the days wore on. Training with Lee was difficult when the boy refused to say more than a couple words to him. Not that the boy was necessarily downright rude, but he wasn't as upbeat or polite as Guy would have liked. It was as though the situation was coming to a head, the head being their next mission.

"This is a Rank A mission," Tsunade warned as she handed the folder over to Neji. "Think you can handle it?" Neji glanced back at his sensei as he took the folder. The older man winked as he reclined against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

"We can, Lady Tsunade."

Once again, Guy marveled at his team. He was damn proud of all of his students. With the shortage of higher ranked shinobi, the Hokage had begun promoting the most capable genin to chūnin, and she conceded that Neji had shown great leaps in his maturity after his loss in the final stage of the previous chūnin exams. With that concession, Neji had received his rank and additional responsibilities. Guy felt it only natural that he began to lead missions as well, so the jōnin had decided to take a step back for the time being. He just worried that his other students might have difficulty adjusting to the change.

His eyes roamed over the lean boy to the left of Neji. Lee, he knew, was struggling with the most with this change, but he was also already chomping at the bit for this mission. Guy could see his student's irritation in the clenching of the boy's fists at his side – or perhaps his anger. Guy had pushed hard for Neji's promotion, but he felt Tenten and Lee just weren't quite there yet. He hated how it was hurting the other boy, but he was a touch disappointed in Lee's behavior to this point. It proved what he already knew: the other two simply weren't ready, but he also knew they would be by the next chūnin exams.

"Got all that, Guy?"

Guy blinked and glanced up at Shizune before looking at the Hokage, uncertain exactly which woman had spoken. "Uh—yes! We will complete this mission before tomorrow!" He gave the women a dazzling smile and his signature thumbs-up and turned to his students. "Or we'll do one thousand laps around Konoha! Right, team?" Tenten groaned while Neji rolled his eyes, but neither disagreed. Lee pumped a fist and shouted an inarticulate assent to Guy's suggestion. The jōnin took this as a sign that they were as good as ready. "Alright Neji, what next?"

"We will meet at the gate in an hour. Everyone, get your supplies together."

The team parted ways outside of the Hokage's tower and made their way homes. Guy gathered his things, placed his pack on his bed, and sat down beside it. Slowly he gathered information about the team's mission by leafing through the folder Lady Tsunade had given them. "An A rank?" he muttered as he skimmed the request from the south of the Land of Fire. A missing acolyte. Sightings of rogue ninja. A rediscovery of an ancient temple. He shook his head and closed the file. What could have possessed the Hokage to label this one so highly?

"Better too high than too low," he mused as he considered the different pay rates. Not that it truly mattered to him, but to his students, he was certain it did. If they did a little less work than advertised, he could always work in an extra training session or two. Lee would like that – hopefully.

Lee.

He shook his head once more as he stood. Naruto Uzumaki was rubbing off on his student in a rather unflattering way. Lee was becoming more and more impatient by the day, and Guy wasn't sure what to do about it. Lee had always modeled himself after Guy, but this impatience was leading to what Guy could only describe as pettiness. He was behaving like a petulant child in the face of Neji's promotion!

He sighed and checked the time. Time to join his team at the gate. Hopefully this mission would go well.


	2. Chapter 2

After interviewing the locals, Guy-sensei asked Neji what their next move should be. The locals had given them little to go on but had impressed the importance of staying away from the ancient temple buried deep within the forest. Obviously, Neji's next move was to go there. Lee rolled his eyes to himself as he leapt from branch to branch, bringing up the rear. He was not in charge, but had he been, he would have tried to gather more information first. They still did not have a clear idea of who the rogue ninja were.

The temple rose from the center of a cluster of trees up ahead, and Lee felt a pang of dread. _iI am not a coward/i_ , he reminded himself as the group slowed and halted in the last trees before the small clearing. He jumped forward to perch beside Tenten as they scoped out this 'haunted temple'.

"I can see two entrances, Guy-sensei. One leading downward and one leading inward."

Guy nodded encouragingly as he followed Neji's line of sight. "How do you want to play this, Neji?"

Neji looked around the team with his featureless eyes, and Lee looked away – back at the stone building before them. He did not like it, nor did he like Neji's next idea.

"We'll take the first door. Guy-sensei, you will take the door leading downward."

Lee swallowed his protests. While he would much rather have been with Guy-sensei, he believed they were also quarrelling at that moment. If not quarreling, then at the very least his sensei was severely and continuously disappointed in him lately, and that was something he could not stand. But he also did not want to be with Neji.

"Stay itogether/i," Guy-sensei ordered before springing from his position.

The trio followed, heading for their own door. The corridor was relatively straightforward upon entering, but quickly it began branching into two or three other hallways. Within three choices, the team was hopelessly lost. After another aimlessly turn, Lee wondered why Neji did not use his kekkei genkai to gain a better understanding of the structure. Neji seemingly thought the same thing as his veins grew more prominent around his eyes.

"Byakugan!"

Neji hissed as the team rounded a corner to face a blank wall. The veins around his eyes seemed to throb as Lee watched the pupil-less eyes narrow. "Dammit! These walls are sealed. I can't see past the barrier!" He growled in frustration and kicked at the stone wall.

"Maybe we can dispel the jutsu," Tenten suggested.

Neji shook his head wordlessly and turned to head the other way, and Lee took it upon himself to remind Tenten of an undeniable truth: "This jutsu might be as old as the temple. We do not have the time to figure out what it is and dispel it!"

The trio backtracked, ran down another empty corridor, and turned the corner to find – another empty corridor! At the rate they were going, the targets would escape before the Leaf-nin even found the stairs to the next level, and Lee recognized this fact.

"This is pointless," he complained. "We can find them more easily if we split up!"

Tenten narrowed her eyes at him. "No. We stick together. Guy-sensei was adamant about that." Their sensei had been quite forceful about them remaining together while he left them to search on his own, and while Lee hated to disobey Guy-sensei, he had to take drastic measures if he wanted this mission to succeed. But he truly did not need his teammate throwing his sensei's words back at him to remind him that he was about to do wrong.

He fought the urge to scowl at Tenten and instead shook his head. "Neji, we should split up. We will have to do Guy-sensei's training if we do not finish this mission before dawn," he reminded the Hyūga. Apparently, Tenten had forgotten that it was ultimately not her decision as she was not the chūnin of their team, and Lee knew that Neji disapproved of Guy-sensei's outrageous training punishments. Neji's stony expression faltered momentarily, and the genin could tell that he was about to agree.

"I will go this way."

Without waiting for an answer, he glanced around, pointed down the hall to his right, and bound off down the hallway. Internally he pumped a fist in victory as he ran. _Now if I can find the criminals before Neji, I can prove to Guy-sensei that I also am ready to become a chūnin! I can continue toward my Ninja Way!_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Rapid footsteps echoed down the hallway toward Guy, who paused in his searching. "Where's Lee?" he looked between his two breathless students as they exchanged panicked looks. His heart sank. "Neji, where is Lee?" he asked slowly, fighting to keep the edge from his voice.

"I-I'm sorry, Guy-sensei." He hesitated, faltering. "Tenten and I – Lee insisted – we separated to search for the other ninja. We-we…"

Tenten shook her head. "We heard him shout, sensei. By the time we reached where we thought we heard him, he was gone." She held out the boy's headband. The red cloth was ripped, but the most worrisome part for Guy was the spattering of blood coating the front of the metal plate. His heart beat harder as old images flashed before his eyes. He pushed them away. i _No, we are_ /inot i _losing anyone on this mission!_ /iHe clenched his jaw and faced the girl.

"Show me where you found this."

Tenten took the lead as the trio began backtracking. Guy could barely focus on the passing images; his mind raced far faster than his body. Lee was missing – i _not gone, just missing/i_ , he told himself repeatedly.

'Gone' was too heavy for the situation, had a finality to it that Guy did not appreciate. His favorite pupil was quite capable of taking care of himself. He had probably been abducted or lured into a trap and would promptly fight his way out. This was the scenario that the jōnin chose to play out as his students led him up a flagged stone staircase: Lee was currently in distress but would quickly save himself, and then he would reunite with his team.

At the top of the staircase, the group entered a seemingly endless maze of stone corridors, which eventually gave way to a large ceremonial room. Tenten fell back, deferring to the purported authority of her teammate. The chūnin slowed before the altar and halted. His pale eyes sought his sensei's, who was unsurprised to find fear in their depths. A small empathetic piece of Guy knew he should assure his student that the situation was not his fault, but instead, he kneeled before the altar and extended a hand. The hairs on his arm stood as his fingers caressed the unnaturally-thick air that hummed over the stone.

"Neji, I can feel the chakra radiating off this. What do you see?"

The veins rose around the boy's eyes as he scanned the area. "I can see the chakra, but I do not recognize the jutsu used here," he said as he began straining his eyes in an attempt to see through the walls and beyond the temple.

"Can you find Lee?"

Neji's eyes dropped and the veins faded. "No, sensei. The walls are sealed with a jutsu neither Tenten nor I recognize."

Guy swallowed hard. "Then we'll have to figure this out without your Byakugan," It was a handicap, certainly, to not have the Byakugan, but they would find Lee without it! They had to. He began giving orders, having silently reclaimed control of the situation. At his command, Tenten scoured the room while Neji examined the altar more closely.

"Stay i _together_ /i," he reiterated, expressly reminding them, before he followed the corridor out the opposite side of the room. If he could track down the rogue nin, he could find Lee – he felt certain of this. However, there was a kink in his plans: he followed the corridor, straight without a single turn, all the way to a door leading out of the back of the temple without finding a sign of his targets or his missing student. There wasn't a drop of blood, shred of clothing – no sign of a struggle or an abduction. He searched outside the temple and then up the corridor again on his way back to his remaining students.

The Leaf ninja raised their heads hopefully as Guy stepped back into the ceremonial hall, but one look at his face caused their own faces to fall. "We aren't giving up," he assured them, his voice more confident than he felt. "Have you found anything?"

Both students shook their heads. "Perhaps, we should return to the village and inform the Hokage," Neji suggested after a moment's pause. Guy's defeated sigh signaled his agreement. He had exhausted his resources, the most crucial time period for catching escapees had passed during his long hike out and back into the temple, and there were others in the village better suited to a manhunt than he.

"We'll come back with ninja hounds."


	3. Chapter 3

Lee landed heavily on his knees and felt as though he had been forcibly vomited back into place. i _Have I been badly beaten? Was I unconscious?/i_ One limb at a time, Lee checked for full range of use and extent of battery. He began to remember how he had surprised his targets. They were in the middle of an elaborate jutsu, some part of a ritual. He had not recognized it, but he immediately had known in his heart that what they were doing was not good. During the ensuing fight, one of the three had completed the jutsu, and then everything became a jumbled mess. When he became aware again, the enemies were gone, had disappeared, but the Leaf ninja seemed only a little worse for the wear. His clothes and his nose had the worst of it, and irrationally, he believed some period of time had passed since he had been ambushed. Within the windowless ceremonial hall, though, he could not be certain. All he knew with a certainty is that he needed to find his team or Guy-sensei.

Once he was certain that he was capable of moving, he pushed himself to his feet and noticed a large mirror stretching from floor to ceiling behind the altar. i _That was not there before,_ /i he observed. The genin was torn between examining the mirror and searching for his team. It took a bit of deliberation, but the searching won out. He acknowledged that the mirror could have a jutsu on it, and that alone would not have been worth the hassle.

This theory seemed more realistic as he turned to backtrack from the hall. The large wooden doors opened to a brand-new sight: replacing the maze of dank stone corridors was one corridor that led straight out. He could actually see the faint natural light of windows and even an open doorway at the end. The damp darkness had been replaced with soft natural and candlelight cast by ornate candles mounted along the walls. Thick red carpets lined the floor. i _We were searching for hours. It should be night out. Also, what happened to the dereliction of this place?_ /i Lee realized that something was terribly wrong. He must have been caught in a genjutsu – or they had been when they entered the temple.

He could not be certain, but he could not repel genjutsu of this magnitude, if that was indeed what was occurring around him. It was in his best interest, he decided, to continue forward. With that in mind, he made his way down the corridor and stepped out of the doorway.

"I cannot understand," he muttered as he looked around. The dense forest was gone. Instead, the temple was now located in the middle of a large village. He frowned and shaded his eyes with his hand. The sun was high in the sky and hot. Had it not been chilly this morning? It was uncharacteristically hot for this late in the season.

"Hold it right there!"

Lee had no time to wonder what to make of these changes when he was tackled from the side. He hit the ground hard, the breath knocked from his chest. Gravel ground into his skin through the rips in his stained jumpsuit. The body on top of him gripped his forearms tightly. He twisted and the grip tightened. His hands were being pulled in opposite directions, and then he was hauled to his feet by two people. Glancing left and right revealed two shinobi, very similar to the Leaf's Anbu. Their masks were plain black, and the eyes were little fragments of mirrors. Lee's blood ran cold at the sight.

"Stop!" He protested and struggled as they dragged him into an ornate building in the center of the village. "Hold on! Please – what is happening?" Neither shinobi reacted to his demands, and after passing an initial entryway, he was tossed to his knees before a long table of elders.

"What is this?" the one in the center with a tall hat asked. Lee recognized the type as similar to the Hokage's or Kazekage's but unlike any he had ever seen. Suddenly he was embarrassed to be in his bloody, torn clothes. i _Before which village am I shaming my own?/i_ He wished he could ask where he was, but the conversation continued on around him without him.

"Lord Mishūkage, another stranger came through," the man on Lee's right informed his leader. Their Anbu-like shinobi who stood along the walls appeared to move their hands closer to their kunai. The elders at the table straightened around their Mishūkage, and Lee wished he could shrink down into the floor. He should not have left Neji and Tenten…

The kage leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at Lee. "You are different from the others. You have no hitai-ate." Lee touched his core, shocked to find it gone. His eyes widened as he opened his mouth. The kage waved off anything the boy had to say. "Were you with the others?"

"Sir, I do not know where I am or who the others are. Please, where am I?"

The older man examined his face for a moment longer before he leaned back, at ease. Hands moved from their kunai, and the guards helped Lee to his feet. He looked at the banners hung around the room in the hopes of recognizing the village's symbols, but he had never seen them.

"Child, you're in the Village Hidden behind the Mirror."

The Mishūkage's tone told Lee that his world should have been falling to pieces around him, but he was ignorant of the man's meaning. "The Village Hidden behind the Mirror?" he asked as his thick brows furrowed.

The kage's smile seemed sympathetic as the most trusted advisor, a middle-aged man immediately to the leader's right spoke up, "It must not be spoken of in your world anymore." i _My world?/i_ The man continued as though his words were of little consequence. "The Mirror is a divide, an ancient jutsu that has separated us from our old world for generations. Are you from the Land of Fire?"

Lee nodded, and the relief flooded his chest. i _If they knew of the village, surely they can send me home!_ /i "Yes, sir. I am from the Hidden Leaf Village."

The advisor smiled and nodded. "Several of our elders were from the Leaf Village, but that's been a long time. Probably longer in your village." The boy's brows knitted once more, so the man continued, "Time is different here. Passes differently."

"But you can send me back?"

"Tsung, enough of this," the Mishukage interrupted. The elders all gazed at the boy with apparent sympathy. "I am terribly sorry, child—"

"Lee."

"—Lee. But it may be a while before we can send you home. If we can at all."

These words, these were the words that caused the bottom to fall out of the world. Lee's stomach dropped as the ground fell away. i _I may never get home._ /i Suddenly he would have given anything to see his team again – even Neji's unsettling pale eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

"Lady Tsunade!"

Guy rushed into the Hokage's office, taking no time to observe the niceties of approaching a kage. "Lee is missing. Permission to extend the scope of the mission or create a new mission?" Technically, he knew he could do this on his own, but for his next question, he needed the previous answer firmly established.

Tsunade looked shocked at the disheveled state of the jōnin and the urgency in his actions. "Lee's missing?" She pinched the bridge of her nose and nodded. "Of course. Retrieval of a lost shinobi is top priority. Mission assigned to Team Guy."

Guy nodded, grateful that she had gone ahead and assigned him back on to the mission. "Permission to recruit Kakashi Hatake and an Inuzuka for their ninken?"

Tsunade checked her papers, and Guy knew she was trying to decide how many resources this chūnin was worth. _Don't think the worst,_ he scolded as he watched her make a note. He recognized that she could also be checking which shinobi were available to assist his team. He honestly didn't believe that Lady Tsunade didn't care about Lee – not after all she had done for him after the chūnin exams.

"Kiba Inuzuka and Kakashi Hatake are both available, Guy. Find Rock Lee."

He bowed his head, grateful for the quick dismissal, and exited the office by way of the window. The jōnin feared what each minute wasted might bring them, so he hurried to the memorial. He knew he would find his rival there.

"Guy…" Kakashi started, clearly believing that the other man had come to issue a silly challenge, but the look on his face said otherwise.

"The Hokage has assigned you a mission. We need your ninken to locate Rock Lee," Guy said without preamble. "We'll meet at the gate in fifteen minutes." Kakashi had no time to ask questions as Guy rushed past. He had to locate Kiba Inuzuka next.

He found Kiba on Kurenai's training field and informed the boy and his sensei that he and his hound, Akamaru, were needed for a mission. The boy had puffed up his chest with pride in being chosen by the Hokage, but Guy's stern look quickly deflated him.

"Is that really Guy-sensei?" he heard the kunoichi on the team murmur to the other chūnin as he ordered the boy to meet him at the gates in nine minutes. He didn't have time to exclaim passionately about the power of youth, not when his most youthful person was missing! He shook his head as he rushed to resupply. He didn't know what he would do if he couldn't find Lee.

 _I'll do five hundred laps around Konoha every night until he returns! With chakra weights!_ he vowed to himself. He would not lose a student! Lee would be found today. He would.

He repeated this to himself like a mantra as he returned to the gates and met his team. His five-man squad. With the hounds, they were a large, skilled search party. "There's no way we won't find him!" Guy assured Tenten, striking his Nice Guy(TM) pose when the kunoichi seemed distraught about the situation. "Kakashi here has a pack of ninken that could find a person after a month during the rainy season!" He forced himself to feel as optimistic as his bluster and managed to convince himself and everyone else. Everyone except his rival, whom he caught giving him a narrowed eye when the younger shinobi weren't looking.

 _Just believe it, Kakashi. Because if it isn't true, I don't know what I'll do,_ he thought despairingly before pushing the pain away again. They traveled without rest back to the temple, Team Guy briefing the additions along the way.

"The village nearby reported that there was a small group of rogue ninjas that turned up soon after they discovered the temple. A religious scholar was exploring the temple when he disappeared, and the village hired us to figure out what was going on. When we reached the temple, we separated to search – the students one way and me another."

Kakashi glanced over, his visible eye bored, but Guy could read little signs of what he thought to be concern in the surrounding lines. "Sounds like a standard mission," his rival commented.

Guy nodded, inclined to agree. "It was."

Neji slowed, falling back from the lead he had taken. "It was my fault. I was the lead nin on this mission, and Lee disappeared under my supervision." Kakashi raised a brow at Guy, clearly expecting him to say something, but instead Guy picked up his pace and moved to the front of the pack.

After what Guy could only describe as an eternity, the forest fell away to reveal the clearing and the overgrown temple once more. There were no signs that anyone had come or gone since they had left less than two days ago, but Guy refused to let his spirits fall. The genin had to be here somewhere – or if not, the hounds would track him.

"Here is one of his jumpsuits," Guy said as he pulled the clothing from his pack. He had grabbed it from the boy's apartment during his supply run, knowing that the ninken would need his scent.

Kakashi summoned the pack of eight ninken and quickly explained the situation to them as they sniffed the jumpsuit. They split up into five groups: two hounds to a shinobi with the exception of Kiba and Akamaru. Guy ended up with Ūhei and Guruko, and their small group took the outside of the temple.

After more than an hour of searching, the two hounds finally admitted defeat. "Boss, we only found his scent at the tree-line with everyone else's," the bandaged ninken said, shaking his head. Guy's heart sank a little as he patted Ūhei's head.

"I appreciate the effort. I didn't see any signs of him either," he confessed.

"We should see how the others are faring."

Guy followed them into the temple, hoping one of the groups had discovered hidden tunnels or something that would explain Lee's complete disappearance.

He was disappointed.

"Unless he backtracked and left the same way he came, he didn't leave this room," Pakkun insisted. Once again, Tenten and Neji – along with the other three shinobi – found themselves scouring the ceremonial hall for any sign of where Lee could have gone. But there was nothing.

Neji caught Guy alone near the altar and hesitantly touched the man's wrist. "Guy-sensei, I am sorry."

Guy waved him off. "We're going to find him. We just need to try harder! Kakashi, the walls are sealed to Byakugan. Is there anything you might be able to see?"

Kakashi sighed and rolled his visible eye. "That isn't how it works, Guy, and you know it. We might have to try extended the search outside the temple. Perhaps he was sealed in some type of barrier and carted out."

The suggestion turned up as much evidence of Lee's whereabouts as the previous search. It was as though his student had vanished into thin air. The hounds couldn't even find the scent of anyone leaving the temple after Team Guy, despite having picked up the rogue ninjas' scent inside. Kiba's ninja hound yielded no different results than Kakashi's, and after a long day and a half of searching, Kakashi suggested the unthinkable.

"We need to return to the village."

Guy looked at him as though he had grown two heads, but Kakashi persisted. "We haven't found a scrap of information about Lee or the rogue ninja. We need to go back, inform the Hokage, and regroup. Maybe someone else will have suggestions on how to proceed."

"Yeah!" Kiba butted in, "You could get Shikamaru Nara or one of the other Nara's to help you come up with a strategy!"

Guy forced himself to grin and give the boy a thumbs up. "Great idea! Let's head back." He headed for the tree-line with tears threatening to prick at his eyes. For the second time in as many days, he left Lee behind.


	5. Chapter 5

Guy knocked on the Hokage's door and entered. "You wanted to see me, Lady Tsunade?"

The Sannin looked up from her paperwork and motioned for him to stand nearer to her. "Guy. Any news?" Guy shook his head, and Tsunade sighed and slammed her hand down on her desk. "Damn it!" She ran a hand heavily over her face, and Guy felt his chest tighten. He knew what was coming next.

"I'm ending the mission, Guy. It's already been a month. With no leads, I can't in good conscience let you continue. Reports of unrest in the surrounding nations keep coming in, and we need all our jōnin here in case of invasion. Just while we sift through and determine how real the threat is." Guy opened his mouth to protest, and Tsunade held up her hand to silence him. "I'll assign a team of your choice to keep looking. A chunin and two genin."

"I—" Guy schooled his expression into an easy smile. "Thank you, Lady Tsunade. I appreciate your allowing us to continue searching. I already have a team in mind."

Tsunade appeared to relax as she offered him a folder. "It's all already written up here. Have the team ready to go first thing in the morning. But—" She hesitated long enough to pour herself a cup of sake and drain it. "I want to level with you, Guy. At this point, it's less of a retrieval and more of a recovery, but you're welcome to have this team keep searching." Guy understood her meaning, and to hear it from the Hokage herself, well, it made his chest feel like it might be caving.

"Thank you," he managed to choke out as he bowed out of the room.

Guy found himself at the door of the only chunin he trusted to lead a mission so dear to his heart. However, raising his hand to rap on the wood was surprising difficult. He wet his lips as he furrowed his heavy brows. _Why is this so hard?_ He hadn't really wanted to spend time with his team since Lee's disappearance, but he hadn't really wanted to do anything but search for his missing student. His hand fell to his side. _I don't want to see Neji, though._ His eyes widened in near horror as the realization of what he had been pushing away finally came crashing over him.

 _Self-rule, discipline_ , he had to remind himself. He forced himself to raise his fist and bring it down in quick succession. Several moments passed before the jōnin heard movement on the other side of the door. The young Hyuga opened the door and immediately stepped aside upon seeing who his caller was. The older man entered and the door was closed behind them.

"Neji." Guy cleared his throat uncomfortably as he stood in the middle of the room. "We need to talk about the mission."

"I'm sorry, Guy-sensei." Neji hung his head, and the pang of guilt brought tears to the sensei's eyes.

Guy pulled the shinobi before him into his arms and held the boy's face against his shoulder. That's all he was, a boy, and Guy hadn't been doing his duty to him. And the worst part was that Guy was only realizing it now – after a month of mistreatment.

"You did a good job on that mission, Neji. You did exactly what you were supposed to do. Things go wrong on missions. You did what you could," Guy murmured and smiled sadly when he felt the Hyuga begin to tremble.

"We will find him."

The boy inhaled sharply and stepped back, quickly wiping his eyes. Guy looked away until Neji cleared his throat. "Why did you want to see me, sensei?"

"If you are ready, the Hokage has a mission for you."

He handed over the folder and watched his student read through the new information. He trusted Neji to handle this accordingly; despite (or possibly because of) their rivalry, the Hyuga cared about Lee. Guy vowed to himself that he would add to his own training as punishment for his treatment of his student.

"I don't care which genin you choose. Whoever you think will be the most help to you. I trust you, Neji."

His student looked up from the folder, his eyes shining. Had Guy not have known the boy for years, he wouldn't have recognized the gentle pride in those featureless eyes. This show of faith was already mending the wedge Guy knew he had driven between himself and the Hyuga.

"We _will_ find him," Neji repeated.

Guy swallowed hard and forced himself to smile. "I know we will. I'm—" He sighed before admitting, "I'm just so afraid that we won't."

Neji's eyes widened at the confession. Guy nodded, a regretful edge to his smile. "Why haven't we found any evidence of where Lee or the rogue nin have gone?" the chunin finally asked after a long moment.

"I… don't know. The hounds haven't caught a new scent near the temple since the beginning of this whole… mess." He shook his head and sighed. "Shizune and Tenten are trying their damnedest to research the temple. There might be tunnels or traps that Lee could have been taken through."

"Something is off with that altar," Neji added. "The way it radiated chakra that day..." Guy nodded, remembering the way the hair on his arms had stood up before the raised stone. "Hopefully Tenten and Shizune can locate some lore about that temple."

"Hopefully," Guy echoed as the Hokage's words ran through his head. _Recovery, not retrieval._ Did he dare tell his student that the Sannin believed they would only recover his teammate's corpse? Guy tried to push away thoughts of what Lee's corpse would be like after a month. Bile rose in his throat and he swallowed repeatedly to hold it. Looking to the door, he ordered the boy, "Have your team at the gates at dawn. Lady Tsunade has removed me from this mission, so it will be the three of you." He clapped the boy on the shoulder before he moved to the door.

"Good luck, son."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I don't really know how fuinjutsu works, so if I got anything wrong, please let me know. Also, I deleted the older chapter and updated this in its place! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Aya, the village elders have sent for me. Why have they sent for me?" The crease between his eyes deepened as he played out his worst fears in his head, but his dear friend seemed far from troubled. She simply threw back her head and laughed, her purple hair wild in the light wind.

"Calm down, Lee," she laughed as she tried to forcibly smooth out his worry lines. "You've been working so hard for the village. I'm sure they just want to thank you."

He swallowed hard and nodded. Her words made sense, but he still feared. "Come with me?" he whispered. She nodded and took his hand without preamble. Together they made their way to the great building in the center of the village. Lee was grateful for the immediacy of her friendship; she had been a blessing to him over the past year. When he ached for home and his team, she was there to remind him that he was not alone, and when he needed to feel like he had a home, she was there with a sense of camaraderie and friendship. She pushed him when he had no motivation, during the lows of homesickness or worse. Just like she pushed him now. Wordlessly, the girl shoved him through the open door of the official offices and hung back just beyond the entrance.

"Lee, come in!" Tsung called, motioning the boy forward with a smile. "Gentlemen, you all know Lee, the boy who came to us about a year ago from beyond the Mirror." There was a general murmuring of assent, and Lee found himself relaxing slightly at the welcome. He knew the main advisor to the kage well, having a great deal of time with him as they searched for a way to send him back to the Leaf. The kind welcome and the presence of the smiling Tsung boded well for the Leaf nin.

"Is there something I can help you with, Tsung-sensei?"

The elderly man glanced at the Mishūkage, who nodded, before turning back to the Leaf Village shinobi. "Because we have no clear idea of when we will be able to return you to your people, and because you have been such a tremendous help to our village, we would like to offer you a place among us as one of our own shinobi. You would be welcome to stay until you can return – or – the Mirror forbid, if you find yourself unable to return, permanently."

Lee felt tears begin to well in his eyes as he drew himself up to full height. "I would be honored to become a Mirror shinobi! I will work twice as hard – no! Ten times as hard as I have been! I will not rest, and I will not let you down! Thank you, Tsung-sensei! And Lord Mishūkage!"

The kage stood and placed his hands behind his back. Solemnly, he began, "Rock Lee, do you promise to live in service of the Village Hidden behind the Mirror?"

"I do, sir!"

"Do you swear to put the good of its people before your own?"

"Yes, Lord Mishūkage!"

The ancient leader broke into a paternal smile as the tears streamed openly down the boy's cheeks. "Thank you, Rock Lee, for your service. We welcome you as a citizen of the Village Hidden behind the Mirror. Go forth and do great deeds."

Tsung stood again and took one of the boy's hands in both of his. "Go, allow the HoShann to perform the joining ceremony, and then you will be assigned a sensei to continue your training and lead you in missions."

"Thank you, Tsung-sensei! I will make this village proud."

The men of the village council smiled fondly as he rushed out of the room, his heart soaring. Aya was waiting at the door, having heard everything. "You'll have to get the jutsu now!" she exclaimed when he joined her in the corridor.

"The jutsu!? Am I allowed to know about it now that I am to become a shinobi here?" He glanced curiously at the girl's palm where he knew the mark to be hidden – the mark given to all of the village's shinobi. He had asked about it before, but no one would tell him anything! Aya was as tight-lipped as the rest, much to his displeasure. But now, he would be able to know the secret, and that filled him with as much happiness as his newfound status as a Mirror citizen – and soon, a Mirror shinobi!

"I'll tell you about it on the way," she promised as she led him out of the Mishūkage's building. As they made their way to the HoShann building on the edge of town, Aya made good on her promise. "The mark of a Mirror shinobi is from a jutsu. It's a sealing mark." She paused and seemed to consider her next words. "This is going to sound bad, but just bear with me. And keep an open mind!"

Lee murmured agreeingly, entranced by the serious turn this conversation appeared to be taking. Aya's crimson eyes narrowed as she searched his face, but she continued nonetheless:

"So, the world that this land, the Land of Glass, is located in can technically be considered a separate dimension than your own. Demons – like the tailed beasts such as the one in your friend – come from other dimensions. We have them in this dimension, but nothing like the tailed beasts. Anyway, the sealing mark seals a demon inside of us, inside of our skin. It's a last ditch jutsu to save ourselves in battle. All our shinobi have it. And if a battle is really going downhill, we can release the seal, which in turn releases a small but feisty demon to attack our enemies."

Lee's eyes widened in horror at the thought, his previously good mood quickly dissipating. "You _purposely_ allow a demon into your body?" Aya nodded, her expression informing him that his incredulity was unappreciated. "Wait, does that mean you have two within you?"

She laughed and nodded. "Yes, but the smaller one doesn't influence me – or any other shinobi for that matter," she assured him. "It isn't like becoming a jinchūriki, I swear." He had to take her word for it on this matter because he knew little about being a host to a demon, let alone two.

"Do I have to do this too?" His voice sounded shaken to even himself as they both came to a stop in the middle of the path. "For the Mirror's sake, I cannot even use fūinjutsu – you know that I am only capable of taijutsu!"

She waved him off. "Lee, that's the beauty of this jutsu! You can control your chakra. I've seen you walk on water and up the sides of tree. You just have to be able to collect and release your chakra in the mark. You could definitely do it! And yes, unfortunately it's considered a 'rite of passage' for all shinobi in our village. Not necessarily the overall Land of Glass, but specifically our village."

She set off again, leaving the boy standing stunned. Lee shook his head to shake off the bewilderment and jogged after her. "Aya! Wait, Aya!" She slowed and they fell into step. "Will I have to give up my allegiance to my village to become a shinobi here?"

Aya smiled over at him and shook her head. A sigh of relief escaped him. "No, normally the Mishūkage would have asked you to renounce all ties to other lands or villages and swear allegiance solely to our village. Or I assume he would. We don't really get very many people from other places, just the occasional citizen of the Land of Glass at large," she explained as they reached the HoShann headquarters.

Apprehension spread through the Leaf nin as he looked upon the featureless building. Nothing truly distinguished it from the other buildings of the village, except its exceptional lack of distinguishing features. It was plain to the point of almost standing out. And, for some unknown reason, that terrified Lee. He knew behind those walls teemed blank masks with reflective eyes, bodies that he now knew contained demons. And he would soon be one of them – at least in the demonic sense. He shivered and looked to his friend for reassurance.

Aya grinned and reached out to squeeze his hand. "Don't tell me that the might Rock Lee is afraid," she teased. "Scared to become a shinobi? I guess you've just enjoyed being lazy for the past year."

Lee raised his chin defiantly. "I am apprehensive, not afraid." _Apprehensive,_ he assured himself, _just apprehensive_. He swallowed the uncomfortable feeling that threatened to rise into his throat and pushed forward into the HoShann headquarters.

Once inside the doors, the duo was silently greeted by one of the HoShann shinobi. Lee glanced at the expressionless mask and felt a pang of homesickness. At least the Anbu's were typically smiling animals with designs unique to each one. The HoShann felt faceless, nameless to Lee, which he supposed was the point. The shinobi led the two deep into the bowels of the building, to a room that contained a large wooden bowl covered in wards on a raised dais in the center of the floor. Chills danced down the boy's spine as he recognized the architecture – it was the same style as the ceremonial hall in the temple that brought him to that world.

"Rock Lee," a voice echoed from behind him. He turned to face a man that wore the Mirror uniform – a black jumpsuit similar to his old green one and a gray flak vest with the Mirror crest on the breast. It was honestly very similar to what the Leaf jōnin wore, which often caused Lee to do doubletakes out on the streets of the Mirror. The man's face reminded him of the first proctor for the chūnin exams – deep scars ran down his face like slashes. "Are you ready to begin?"

Lee refused to glance at Aya, determined to prove himself unafraid. "I am," he confirmed and was pleased to hear a distinct lack of a waver to his words. The man motioned him to the bowl, where he joined the pair of young shinobi. Without preamble, he launched into an emotionless speech about the duties of a shinobi, things that Lee already knew as a Leaf shinobi. Protect your village, protect your team, complete the mission, uphold honor and duty. He knew all of this, but he did not interrupt the man.

"Got all that? Good." The man bit his thumb and slammed his hand down in the center of the bowl's flat bottom. "Summoning jutsu!" A demon popped into existence as the man jerked his hand away, and Aya yanked Lee's palm forward. Quickly the man launched into a complicated series of hand seals, creating a seal over the demon's head. He held his hands above the demon, one on either side, and brought the seal down rapidly. As it closed around the creature, Aya pushed Lee's palm against the top of the jutsu, searing it into his skin. She refused to let up until the entirety of it – including the demon – was inside his skin. When she released him, Lee fell to the floor and writhed in agony. He had felt physical pain before, had felt the burn of fire or sting of poison, but nothing compared to this. His eyes wide with fear, he gripped his injured arm with the other and cried out. It felt as though a million snakes with flaming venom had just clamped down on his entire hand and that the poison was spreading up his arm. Fear filled him. _What if this kills me? What if I cannot handle the pain and my body shuts down?_ He had never had such a thought before, but as he howled in pain, he realized he could die in the Land of Glass and never see his home again.


	7. Chapter 7

"Lee, what would you say if I told you I had figured out the jutsu to send you home?" Aya stood over Lee with her hands on her hips, feet splayed as she grinned down at him. Lee raised his head from the grass where he had been cooling down from a hard day's training, and he looked at her with raised brows.

"I would say that I have heard that before," he said slowly as he made his way to his feet. Despite his best efforts, his heart began to race. "Why should this time be different?"

She refused to let him take away her grin. "By the Mirror, watch yourself," she swore lowly. "You haven't had me trying to send you home until now. I'm going to get rid of you." Lee fought against the upward tugging of his lips but failed to prevent the grin from splitting his face. "See, you're excited too," his teammate accused.

"Yes, yes, if you say so," he muttered, waving her away with a soft smile. Immediately, his voice dropped to whisper as he met her large eyes. "Are you certain, though?"

"Yes."

The lighthearted joy in his heart dampened as he bit his lip. "I, uhm, I will go get my things then." He blinked as he turned toward their shared apartment. The apartment that would soon be hers alone. "Aya?"

"Hmm?"

"Help me pack?"

She smiled and shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't. I have to prep the ritual," she explained as she gave his hand a quick squeeze. "I'll see you at the temple, okay?" He nodded, his lips a thin line. "Don't look like that," she chastised with a gentle smack to his cheek.

He tried pouting, but still she left him. So, he jogged to their two-bedroom apartment and simply stood in the doorway. His eyes welled with tears as he forced himself forward to take a final tour of his current home. His single bag could not hold all the belongings that he had amassed over time. He would have to leave some things behind. He tried to be reasonable, tried to pick things that he might truly need. Due to a recent growth spurt, he knew his clothes in Konoha would no longer fit. Into the bag went a couple of uniforms. He was proficient with his manriki-gusari, so he had to take it – never mind that it was a gift from Aya and their sensei, Daichi Hachirou. His bag was quickly filling up, and yet, he had so many other items he wished to take.

Sinking on to his bed with a defeated sigh, he ran a hand over his eyes. He was settled here. Once again, he was going to have to leave his life behind. _But I am returning to my old life,_ he reminded himself as he leaned to pull from his nightstand a picture of him and Aya on the training field together. He would take the picture, but everything else would have to stay. He did not need all of his books; anything he did not know by now would simply have to remain a mystery. And he could not fit nearly any of his civilian clothes into the bag. No, nothing else would be returning to Konoha with him.

He gave their home one last longing look before locking the door behind himself and setting off for the temple on the other side of the village. He wished he could have used that stroll as a reflective moment to gather his thoughts on who he was leaving behind, all that he had learned, his own sense of the Reflection of Soul. But instead, he found himself dragging his feet through the streets that had rapidly become his home.

"I am not ready to go," he whispered to himself, tears rolling down his cheeks. All too soon, he was standing before the temple, walking inside, standing before the altar once more. How many times had he walked down that corridor and stood in this very same spot? How many scholars had assured him that they could send him back to Konoha?

"Lee," his teammate greeted him as she straightened a row of items across the raised stone. If she noticed his tears, she spared him the shame of mentioning them.

"Will this work, Aya?" Lee scanned the items laid before the Doorway with frank skepticism. "Nothing has worked before."

The girl tossed her hair over her shoulder with a scoff. "That's because they haven't had me helping them. Have some faith in me, Lee. No one wants you gone more than I do." She smiled softly at the boy, and he felt a pang in his chest. _She does not mean that_ , he reminded himself sadly.

"If you are right, I will be forever in your debt. I will—I can…" He shook his head and she laid her hand on his shoulder.

"You'll go live your life in your village. And name your first kid after me," she added with a wink before beginning the jutsu. Lee stood back and watched her hands fly through the symbols he had seen so many times over the last four years. _She is incredible_ , he thought with another pang of pain.

The Doorway began to shimmer, the empty space solidifying and reflecting their own images. Lee watched the tears begin to swim in his large doe eyes before meeting his friend's crimson eyes in the Mirror.

"Aya," he began, but she cut him off with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"No tearful goodbyes, Lee. Go home. It's about damned time."

 _I love you._ He heard it in her words, had seen it in her hand signs as she opened the Doorway.

"I love you too," he said softly, giving her hand a squeeze before stepping through the solid Mirror before him. His last sight of the Village Hidden behind the Mirror was Aya smiling wistfully and massaging her palm.

On the other side, everything was as it had been. An ancient temple, signs of old and new battles. How long had he been gone from this world? Had anyone missed him? He touched his chest as he felt the renewed sense of loss. His friends in the Village Hidden behind the Mirror, gone from him – beyond his reach forever more. _This homecoming will be bittersweet_ , he realized as he touched the jitsu mark hidden beneath his wrist wraps.

With a wistful smile, he made his way from the temple to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. _Mirror, I hope I have not been gone too long. Please do not let it have been a century or long time like that_ , he begged as he walked the familiar trails. Once, he had imagined that he would run as fast as he could to reach the village and show his teammates that he was alive. Show his sensei. The thought of Guy made his feet almost drag. How was he going to explain his experiences to everyone? To Guy? _If anyone is still alive_ , he thought morbidly.

After what could have been a lifetime, he stepped through the village gate. He recognized the faces standing guard; many of the same faces had been at the gate the last time he left the Leaf Village: Kotetsu, Izumo. His spirits began to rise. _It could not have been too long!_

The shinobi gaped at him as he headed for the Hokage's office. In his heart of hearts, he believed he should go straight to his team, but he recognized that they could be on assignment without him - _or dead_ but that thought was shoved aside- and the Hokage would want to know he was back, if anyone knew he had been gone. _The Hokage can also answer my questions, hopefully!_

He jogged up to Lady Tsunade's office and knocked on the door, perhaps a touch harder than intended in his haste.

"Naruto…"

He heard the low warning tone through the wood and opened the door. Lady Tsunade and Shizune shared a shocked look as he sprang through the doorway.

"Rock Lee reporting for duty, ma'am!"


	8. Chapter 8

Murmurs followed Guy on the street as he walked toward the training ground. He had become used to this treatment, but today the breeze carried snatches of the increased chatter to him. _"Rock Lee back?" "Think Guy knows?" "The Hokage said—"_ Guy swallowed the lump rising in his throat. Had the boy finally resurfaced? After nearly six months of hard hunting, he had nearly given up hope of Lee returning; though, he never would have given up searching.

Guy fought the urge to grab the whisperers and shake them for information. He inhaled sharply and turned, taking measured steps toward Lady Tsunade's office. He would not run. Not until he knew for certain.

When he reached the door, he lifted his hand to knock and paused, listening. He could hear a voice on the other side. Lee's voice! He burst through the door and leapt toward the boy, his name springing from the jōnin's lips.

He stopped short of embracing Lee, who had slowly rotated like his legs were made of stiff oak. This couldn't be the same young man who had disappeared half a year prior. He was much taller, slimmer, and wearing the uniform of another village's shinobi. He certainly didn't look worse for the wear.

They regarded each other silently for a few moments, both almost afraid of what the other might say. Tsunade finally broke the spell after a long, discomforting silence.

"Guy, I'm glad you're here. I was about to send Shizune for you. As you can see, Lee has returned. He was just about to tell us what happened to him."

Lee swallowed and massaged his bandaged palm. "I am uncertain where to begin," he admitted as he turned to see both Lady Tsunade and Guy.

"Start at the beginning."

Lee's round eyes searched Guy's face, and Guy found himself wondering if Lee knew where the beginning was anymore. He seemed to have aged in some unspeakable way. He didn't seem to have been mistreated, but he certainly was different. Older in more than a physical sense, perhaps.

"The temple is the beginning, but it has been so long. The details are hazy." Lee ran a hand roughly over his eyes, trying to think. He should have prepared this during his walk instead of moping about the possibility of him having been gone for a century. "The shinobi that we were meant to stop, they were working a jutsu, and I became trapped in it. I was…" He chewed at his lower lip. Was this considered a Mirror Village secret? "I apologize, Lady Tsunade. I am uncertain how to continue without betraying the village that cared for me."

Tsunade glanced at Guy, her brow furrowed. Guy mirrored her expression, uncertain what could have happened to cause Lee to behave like this. He had been at another village and hadn't come home? And now he refused to tell them where and why he had been gone? Something was certainly amiss here.

"Would it help if Guy and Shizune left the room?"

Guy's heart dropped. Before, he never would have questioned Lee's answer to that question. The Lee he knew never would have sent him away, but he had never seen the man -for he no longer seemed a boy- who stood before him, nervously rubbing at his wrist wraps. Pain spread through Guy's chest at the direction his thoughts were moving. Yesterday he would gladly have given his legs to have Lee back, but now he found that there was a niggling doubt in the back of his mind: was this Lee?

Lee experienced a small crisis as he glanced between the three others in the office. He certainly did not want to send the jōnin away, but perhaps it might be simpler to explain to Lady Tsunade. She was surely tasked with the secrets of other villages. But! That did not mean he did not trust Shizune or his old (current?) sensei with village secrets. This was more difficult than he had imagined. He ran his fingers over the hidden jutsu mark before shaking his head.

"I was not in this world. I cannot explain the mechanics of it, but I was in a secret village removed from this world lifetimes ago to protect their jinchūriki." He refused to meet their eyes, fearing the doubt he believed he would see written in their faces. Instead of hearing disbelieving protests, he heard someone drop suddenly into a chair. His eyes met the stunned eyes of the Hokage.

"Did you meet the Mishūkage?"

It was Lee's turn to look shocked. "Yes! How did you know?" They did not believe him to be crazy, praise the Mirror!

Tsunade whispered, "I thought the Village Hidden behind the Mirror was a myth. A children's story." She massaged her brow, very clearly disturbed by the news he had given her. Shizune and Guy shared confused looks past Lee before Shizune asked Lee to explain further.

"I cannot say much more. I am sorry, but I took a vow as a Mirror shinobi to uphold their traditions and protect their secrets."

"A Mirror shinobi!" Guy exclaimed disbelievingly.

Lee nodded and looked apologetic. "We did not know how long I was to remain in their village, and we all agreed it was for the best. They waited a year before offering me a place among them and showing me their jutsu."

"A year!?" Guy blanched.

"Yes, but I was training the entire time, Guy! I am still in shape for our training, if I am still allowed," he assured the jōnin. _If you will still have me_ , he wanted to add but refrained, feeling the sentiment would be unwelcome at the current moment. There were more important issues than whose team he might be part of if they allowed him to rejoin the Leaf shinobi.

"Lee," Tsunade began slowly, "Guy is not upset because you had a year without training. He's upset because you've only been gone from the Leaf Village for six months."

It was Lee's turn to have all the color drain from his face. "That is not the worst of my news, then. Lady Tsunade, I was in the Village Hidden behind the Mirror for four years." Guy felt the ground fall away from him. Had it really been so long for him? He felt beside himself for a chair and sank down into it.

Lee picked at his gauzes as he waited for someone, anyone, to say something. It took several beats of silence for Tsunade to finally clear her throat uncomfortably. "If you consent, I would like to complete a medical exam to be certain that being in the Mirror Village didn't adversely affect you, and then I'll turn you loose to rest and reacquaint yourself with the village. We can continue this conversation in a few days. Does that sound agreeable, Lee?"

Lee nodded.


	9. Chapter 9

Guy watched as Lee left the examination room, the jōnin's heart heavy in his chest. Once the boy had turned the corner at the end of the corridor, he slipped into the room with the silence of a veteran shinobi. Tsunade sighed as she looked up from her notes and shook her head. "There's nothing wrong with him, Guy. He's older, and he has something like a curse mark. I've never seen it before, but he swears it's benign. Other than that, there's nothing new or different about him." She barely glanced up before continuing to consult his student's charts.

Guy's heart all but stopped at her casual mention of a curse mark, but her lack of elaboration told him that the topic was closed to discussion. All he could hope was that Lee was not drawn back to the Village Hidden behind the Mirror as Sasuke Uchiha was to Orochimaru. Since she seemed unconcerned and Lee had obviously insisted that it wasn't the same, he dropped the subject and moved to the more pressing matter: the time difference between the two worlds.

"How can that be?"

"Well," she sighed as she closed the folder. "He said that the Mishūkage warned him that time could move very differently between our two villages. They couldn't explain why, and frankly, neither can I." She searched his face, but Guy couldn't bring himself to give her what she wanted – not yet.

"What about his allegiance to the other village?"

Tsunade frowned at his terse interrogation but answered anyway. "Because of the circumstances, I have decided not to test his loyalty to Konoha. With the length of his absence, I feel he had no choice but to do exactly as he did." Guy relaxed fractionally, and the Hokage seized her chance.

"Talk to him, Guy. Make sure he's adjusting to being home, but don't push too hard. If I can see that he's coping well in a week, I'll put him back on active duty."

 _She would put him back on active duty so soon? We need to be certain that he's ready for that!_ He hesitated momentarily before fully relaxing his expression. Lady Tsunade was the Hokage; he had to trust in her judgment. She wouldn't clear Lee if he wasn't ready, even if he claimed that he was. And the only way they would know if he could be listed as active was to just check on him. Which Guy knew that only he could do well!

Guy forced a dazzling smile and gave her his signature thumbs-up. "You can count on me!" he assured her before springing back into the corridor. _I hope I can keep this promise._ He didn't even know where to begin with Lee. To think that he had believed with a burning ferocity that he would be overjoyed to see the boy again, and now it was overshadowed by the nagging sense of self-doubt. Lee hadn't seemed overjoyed to be back in the Hidden Leaf again. Did he truly want to be home? As his rival had learned, a sensei cannot help a student who doesn't want to be with them. He prayed that this wasn't the case with his Lee.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Lee ignored the stares and murmurs as he walked through the village in a state of shock. He had not truly expected to return to the Leaf, especially not when such a short time had passed for his people. Nothing had changed where he had expected everything to be gone. It was as amazing as it was upsetting. He was home, but there was no evidence he had ever left – no evidence but the mutters.

He entered his apartment and sank down onto his bed, stirring the thin layer of dust that had gathered in his absence. The only sign within those walls that he had not been there, and it was barely visible. _I have to remember that it has not been four years here,_ he reminded himself. He realized that if he could not get that through his head, he would never be able to settle back into life in the Leaf. Nothing had changed, except him.

Shaking his head, he roused himself from his brooding. "Moping does me no good!" he exclaimed as he moved to his feet and began to strip his bed. Cleaning his apartment would give him a task for the afternoon. Mentally he made a list of all he needed to do from cleaning his bed clothes to unpacking and grocery shopping.

"Having only two rooms is nice," he told himself as he moved from his bed to his refrigerator with only a few steps. "It is less cleaning, and there will be no noise from the other room to keep me awake." His movements faltered slightly at the thought of not having Aya just in the next room. He wondered what she was doing at that moment and how long it had been since she had seen him.

Would she miss him?

He inhaled sharply and fought the tears that began to prick at his eyes. "No, I will not cry," he said firmly as he wiped at his large eyes. The Leaf was his home; he should not miss the Mirror -or its people- so deeply.

And yet, when he finished cleaning and dressed to go shopping, he put on his Mirror uniform without hesitation. _It is all I have that fits,_ he rationalized while refusing to think too deeply about his decision. But once he was on the street and in the store, part of him wondered if he would have garnered less attention if he had been wearing a Leaf uniform. He had not realized how many people shopped at his store until they were all staring at him.

None of them stopped him or said anything within earshot. _So thank the Mirror for small mercies, I suppose,_ he thought as he carried his groceries back to his apartment. The note on the door informed him that he had missed a visit from his former sensei. A sense of sinking relief in his stomach clued him in to a thought he had been pushing away: he was not ready to see his team. Not yet anyway.

He put away groceries, made himself dinner. Enjoyed the quiet domesticity while all the while refusing to acknowledge thoughts of the Mirror. He could already tell that this would be the norm for some time. Silence and repressed thoughts. He pushed the food around on his plate, nearly wishing that he had not missed his sole visitor.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, there was a knock at the door.


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N./ Hey everyone! I thought we needed a filler chapter this week!**

* * *

Lee stood and hesitated by his table. Despite his previous thought, he realized that he was not ready for visitors – or maybe just one visitor in particular. _Please do not let it be Guy,_ he prayed as he made his way to the door. One foot fell heavily before the other, each step measured. He felt he could maybe deal with visitors as long as it was not his former sensei. There would be expectations that he knew he could not yet meet.

He tugged the door open, the hinges swinging silently inward. His brows raised in surprise as he took in his haggard visitor. "Neji!" he exclaimed as he stepped backward to allow his former teammate to step into his apartment.

Featureless eyes examined Lee as he closed the door behind them. "At the gates, they said you were back," the Hyūga muttered. Lee recognized the shock carefully hidden in those white irises. "Where were you?"

The accusation in his tone stunned Lee – as did his weary expression. "Erm, well, it is a long story," he said before motioning to the kitchen. "I made dinner if you would like some."

"No."

"Okay." Lee motioned to the couch and perched on the opposite arm. "Are you alright?"

Neji looked down at his torn uniform as though he had just noticed it for the first time. "I've just come from a mission. The worry date passed." Again, with the accusatory tone. Lee smiled apologetically, uncertain why that would cause Neji to be angry at him.

"I am sorry. Was it a hard mission? If it is not classified, of course!"

"Are you truly asking me if it was hard?" Neji's eyes narrowed. "We had to infiltrate the Land of Sound to search for a lost ninja."

"A lost ninja? Has the village lost another shinobi?"

"I'm glad to see that you're still an idiot," was the answer that Lee received before its meaning dawned on him.

"You were looking for me." He paused, his expression stricken. "Did – was anyone hurt?" Guilt flooded his chest as his gaze fell to the floor. Had he caused his friends that much trouble? In the early days, he had hoped that someone was looking for him and would bring him home, but he had dismissed the belief that his team would find him well before becoming a Mirror shinobi. To think that they had still been looking after all this time… He met the Hyūga's eyes and searched for what the other shinobi was thinking.

Neji's eyes softened slightly as he shook his head. "No, everyone returned, to varying degrees, intact. We also had other reasons to be in Oto. While searching for you, we discovered new intel on Orochimaru and were acting on it," he explained as he settled on the edge of the seat that Lee had offered him.

Lee nodded, a little more at ease with this new information. It was surreal to think that his village would still be looking for him after all this time – even if it had been only six months for them. "I assumed that Lady Tsunade would label me 'presumed KIA' by now," he admitted, turning to face his former teammate more fully.

"Guy-sensei never would have let that happen."

"I know."

The Hyūga grew solemn and shifted uncomfortably. "Listen, Lee… About the mission. I apologize for the way it unfolded. I should have led our team better."

Lee's eyes widened at the words. _Neji is apologizing? To me?_ It was an unexpected as it was unwarranted. He hesitated before reaching out to touch the other shinobi's shoulder. Perhaps the simple touch could help convey his thoughts. "It was my fault. I was hasty and wanted to prove that I deserved the promotion too." He laughed softly as he vaguely recalled how angry he had been at Neji and their sensei. "It has been so long since then that it seems silly to have been so upset."

"I still feel that I'm partially to blame."

"Neji, you did nothing wrong. Our rivalry was still a little unhealthy at that time. You were maturing, and I was not. It was not your fault," he reiterated. "Besides, that was years ago for me. Now I am mature enough to truly be your equal, if you would like to continue, Rival!" He grinned at his peer, who looked confused.

"Years ago for you? When you phrase it like that, it doesn't sound like an over-exaggeration," the Hyūga remarked, ignoring Lee's offer of continuing their rivalry.

"I did say where I have been is a long story." Lee ran a hand through his shaggy hair and considered how to explain the tale once again. He had a feeling that he would get very good at telling his story because he would most likely have to repeat it to every one of his peers. "You remember the altar in the temple?"

A look of disdain passed across Neji's features. "Yes, I am intimately familiar with the altar."

"Did you ever see the Mirror? Maybe immediately after I disappeared?" The other shinobi shook his head and Lee continued, "Well, there is a jutsu that summons the Mirror, which acts as a portal to another dimension. You know, of course, that the Tailed Beasts and other demons come from other dimensions."

Lee could already tell that his former teammate knew where this tale was heading by the slow nod that he returned at the phrase 'other dimension'. Disbelief etched itself into his features, and Lee knew it would only grow as he explained further: "There is a village in that dimension, the Village Hidden behind the Mirror. It was separated from this world sometime around the time of the first or second Hokage in order to keep their jinchūriki safe. I was there for four years."

"Four years?" the Hyūga echoed incredulously. When Lee nodded with a guileless expression, Neji ran a weary hand over his eyes. "Four years. No wonder there was no trace of you. …Four years…"

"I have already told this to the Hokage and Guy, but I believe they want to keep it a secret for now."

Neji nodded. "I can understand why." He shook his head, obviously still processing Lee's admission. "I can understand now why you claim to have matured."

Lee laughed at Neji's attempt at humor. He had also lightened up some during Lee's absence, apparently. "Yes. I have certainly had time to grow up some." He sighed and smiled to himself. "But you will have to excuse my being a bit rude. I have only been back a while and am trying to wrap my head around it."

The other shinobi moved to his feet, clearly recognizing a dismissal when he heard one. "I'm glad you're back, Lee – if only so I don't have to continue searching for you." He clapped his teammate on the shoulder before he left, leaving Lee with an affectionate warmth building in the center of his chest. He had honestly missed Neji and his team as a whole.

But that did not mean that he did not miss Aya and Tsung-sensei and the Mirror equivalent of his jōnin instructor, Tadayo-sensei. In fact, the three of them had not been far from his thoughts since his return. The Mirror village had not been removed from his mind at any moment. He sighed and unwrapped his bandages on his hand to reveal his Mark. The Leaf village, he knew, would never feel like his uncontested home again after his stay in the Mirror. He always knew there would be a small nagging doubt of where he truly belonged.


	11. Chapter 11

_your-fault-your-fault-your-fault._

Each footfall seemed to expound on his failures. Guy had nightmares about that sound – about steps that sounded like his missing student's voice laying all the blame for his vanishing at his sensei's feet. _You knew he wasn't in the right place for a mission. You fought for Neji's promotion. Competition drives pupils to better heights. What a load of crock._ Mocking faces circled around Guy as he pleaded his case, but still their taunts drowned out his words. The Hokage, Kakashi, Tenten – their faces twisted in disgust as the tears flowed down his cheeks.

Jerking upright, the jōnin wiped almost frantically at his wet face.

Another sleepless night led Guy to the streets of Konoha. The warm night air felt wonderful on his clammy skin after his tossing and turning. After six months of this peculiar habit, not one of the handful of souls batted an eye at his ceaseless jogging around the village in the wee hours of the morning. Each simply watched as he made his laborious laps. And laborious they were.

His failures often grew heavier and harder to manage after each and every lap, and by the end of the five hundredth, he felt like he could barely drag himself back to his apartment. But he managed, much to his own chagrin. _This is what you deserve,_ he had told himself in the early days of Lee's absence. _You have failed your students! You failed Lee! You're not fit to be a sensei,_ the quiet voice that nagged throughout the day would continuously scream as he carried out his self-imposed punishment. He allowed that guilt to weigh more heavily on him than his chakra weights.

But now, Lee was home. Everything was going to be different now – normal again. No more pushing past even his rival's boundaries for self-loathing. Or so Guy told himself. And yet, mere days after his student's safe return, he was back on his now-normal beat.

 _Have I failed Lee?_ he asked himself as he began his laps. The discomfort Lee felt had been obvious in the Hokage's office, and yet, Guy had been unable to bring himself to visit his student. On some unspeakable level, he knew that he was afraid of what he would find when they were face to face once again.

He had tried to see the boy the day after he returned, but either he had been out or was refusing visitors – both were understandable. And Guy couldn't deny the niggling relief that had flooded his chest when his knocking had gone unanswered.

 _He is my student, dammit!_ He had to scold himself over this cowardice. But there was that part of him – that tiny little piece buried deep within him – that feared his Lee would turn into a Sasuke. The mark that Lee was keeping hidden away – how long until it called him back to that village?

How long until they lost Lee again?

Guy swallowed the lump growing in his throat at these painful thoughts. _That doesn't matter,_ he told himself as he allowed himself to veer off-course. His feet mechanically deviated toward Lee's apartment. He had _promised_ Lady Tsunade to try to help Lee adjust, and he owed it to the boy himself as well.

He just had to remind himself: _All that matters is now._

Casting off the invisible cloak of his own culpability, he made his way down the boy's street. _Open up your heart, Maito,_ he commanded as he stopped before the building. His eyes slowly traveled to the windows of Lee's living quarters, but they were dark. As he thought about knocking anyway, his eyes were drawn upwards by some fractional motion on the roof.

Lee's shaded face turned toward his own, and immediately his breath was forced from his body. How had he so easily forgotten that the four years had actually changed the boy physically? The moonlight fell in such a way that his student's eyes were hidden, but the shape of his face was not. The years had worked away the roundness of youth and left a strong jaw and a hint of gauntness that was foreign to Lee's face. His mouth was set in a pensive line that made the jōnin wonder what was going on in his mind. Did he really want to know though? When the thoughts had the possibility of breaking his thoughts, no he didn't.

Guy had to forcibly inhale before he sprang onto the roof. "Care if I join you?" he asked as he plopped down cross-legged beside the—his student. Not the boy, he had to remind himself. "I was wondering when I would run into you." He kept his tone conversational and hoped his pounding heart could not be heard.

Lee didn't seem surprised at the intrusion. "I would not call this running into me. This is my apartment," he pointed out, and Guy forced a chuckle.

"Indeed. I just meant that I wanted to see you. If you're ready for company," he added, glancing to see if he could read his student's once-expressive face.

"I am."

Guy suppressed the tremor of disappointment at Lee's reticence. It was making this so much more difficult for the jōnin. What was he supposed to say? What could he really say?

"Are you excited to start training here again?"

Lee's head rotated slightly toward Guy at his tactless question, and Guy quickly tried to backtrack. "I meant, talk to me. Tell me how you feel." He sighed and ran a calloused hand over his face. "I feel like I'm shoving my foot in my mouth."

The corner of Lee's mouth quirked upward as he leaned back against the roof. His hair fell away, and the moon shone brightly in his eyes. "I am glad you showed up," he admitted. "I—keep getting lost in my thoughts."

Progress! Guy smiled in what he hoped looked to be an understanding manner. "I understand. After a big event, they're easy to get lost in." He looked Lee over, trying to phrase his next words. It had been so easy to talk to him before he disappeared. Why was it a struggle now?

"You know you can talk to me, right Lee? I'm still here for you, just like before."

Lee looked up at him, and Guy was relieved to see that they still held the same softness that Guy knew and loved. His Lee had not disappeared entirely, it seemed.

"I know," his student assured him. "I am—I—" Lee floundered for a moment while Guy waited. He remembered other shinobi, ones who had experienced great events that had left them struggling for words. He himself had gone through the process. A gentle touch to his student's arm was meant to convey these thoughts without interrupting his thoughts. With a grateful smile, he managed to explain haltingly, "I am trying to piece together my thoughts before I can truly explain. It—it is easy to tell where I went and what it was like. My emotions, they are an entirely different situation, I think."

Guy nodded and lightly petted Lee's wrist. "I know. It sounds like you were returned quite suddenly."

"Yes!" Lee exclaimed with apparent relief. "We did not expect this attempt to work. It was almost like a routine—like we all just wanted to be able to say we were trying."

"You'd given up on coming home."

"Yes."

Guy's heart welled with sympathy and tenderness toward his poor student. He had disappeared as a boy, a genin that was not emotionally ready to move up in the shinobi world, and in that single word, Guy could almost hear that little boy breaking – and his heart broke with him. He couldn't imagine what Lee had gone through. Konoha and his team had been his whole world.

And now he was -seemingly- this man that Guy hardly knew.

Tears streamed down the older man's cheeks, and to his surprise, Lee sat up to wipe them away with a soft laugh. "Still the same Guy-sensei," he murmured. Guy felt the first tinges of embarrassment's warmth creep through him as he nodded, but Lee simply shook his head. "I missed that."

His soft eyes turned sad, and he gave an obviously fake yawn. "I am so sorry, but it is very late. I should turn in. It was really nice talking to you, Guy." He forced a smile and leapt down without another word.

Guy was left in silence with tears still streaming down his face.

* * *

 **A.N./ Have a long chapter since I was late! Also, reviews give me life (please don't let me die).**


	12. Chapter 12

_"Lee! Lee! Guess what!" Aya ran down the hill beyond the training field, her lilac hair flowing wildly behind her. Lee lowered his leg from his pre-kick stance and grinned at her. The sheer look of joy paired with her running reminded Lee so strongly of a child that he could not help but laugh._

 _"What is it, Aya? Do we have a mission?" he asked hopefully. Daichi-sensei had promised a new one soon, and now the pair was antsy – or at least, Lee knew he was._

 _"Yes!" She skidded to a stop before him and beamed. "We're to meet him in the Mishūkage's office!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him back up to the village and into the office where their sensei was already sorting out the details._

 _Lee stood stoically aside as Daichi-sensei accepted their new mission, despite his own misgivings about their directive._

 _Seek and destroy._

 _Lee had known this day would come. He had hoped that it would not, though. But with his sensei being part of Retention with HoShann, how could he have ever avoided it?_

 _A glance toward his teammate told him that she did not have any reservations about taking such a mission. She was grinning as widely as she was before. He immediately knew her eagerness did not bode well for him and his lack of excitement._

 _Lee wet his lips and let his eyes slide to the Mishūkage._ If I do not do this, he will revoke my permission to be a Mirror shinobi. I would be turning my back on the Reflection of Soul in his eyes, _he thought with a sinking sense of certainty. The older man returned Lee's gaze with a kind smile before dismissing the three. He did not know if he could betray the leader after the beneficence the man had shown him over the past couple years._

 _Following his sensei from the office, he was aware of the orders he was being given._ Go home, get some sleep. Be ready to leave at dusk. _Everything was slipping past him too quickly. He followed Aya to their shared apartment, closed himself in his room, and rolled about his bed for hours. The light knock at his door came all too soon, just like the sense of reality he was pushing away._

 _Daichi-sensei was waiting for them at the gate. His solemn eyes took in the pair, his gaze so intense that Lee was forced to look at the dirt road. Lee felt the sense of knowing in those silver eyes that left him ashamed._

" _Lee, you will never progress in your profession if you fail to complete this mission," the man coolly informed his student. "You will be stuck where you are now. Stagnant in the lowest levels of a shinobi's career."_

 _The phrase "eternal genin" rang through Lee's mind with a pulse of fear. He would become that shinobi. All the time and effort that Guy had poured into him, the promise that he had made after the chūnin exams – everything would go to waste the moment that he failed to complete this mission. Even his presence here would be pointless, a lifelong consequence of a failed mission in the career of a failed shinobi._

 _Aya touched his elbow lightly with her fingertips and glanced at their sensei. "Lee can do this – just you watch him!" she exclaimed as she shook her finger at the older ninja._

 _He simply scoffed at her misplaced conviction, "We will see."_

* * *

Lee woke slowly with a heaviness in his heart. The soft blue light bleeding in from the window informed him that it was approaching dawn, which was earlier than he wished to wake. But his dream had pulled him from his sleep. He could not quite remember it now, but he felt certain that it involved Aya and Daichi-sensei. He missed them so much that he could hardly stand it. The depth of his loss almost felt deeper than the loss he experienced when he left the Leaf. And with his short visit, Guy had only succeeded in making him miss the Mirror more, which he was certain was not the older man's intent.

He sighed and pushed himself into a sitting position before rubbing his eyes roughly. "Guy should be refreshing," he told himself as he sat there in the darkness. "Guy should be like a spring breeze; I missed him so much, and he is very new to me again. He is everything that Daichi-sensei was not." Again, he rubbed his face, forcing his hair from his crawling skin. Being back in the Leaf was stressful. He knew he should be grateful, but he also felt that he had left a portion of himself behind in the Mirror.

And he certainly should not be comparing his former sensei and his Mirror sensei.

And yet, he found himself thinking about how Daichi-sensei never would have cried in front of him. The man rarely even smiled; Lee could not imagine what would have happened if he had laughed – or Mirror forbid, sobbed. The entire dimension would have imploded!

Though, Lee was not unhappy with the fact that Guy had cried. Quite the opposite really – it made him profoundly sad. Thinking of his former sensei's tears caused the prickling of his own tears to begin. _I truly miss_ _us,_ he thought to himself as he began to move from his bed and begin his day, despite the early hour.

His thoughts remained on Konoha's resident taijutsu master as he went through his morning exercises. Each change of activity brought another question about the jōnin and his relationship to Lee. His thoughts were rapidly becoming overwhelming, and he could not pull himself from these quickly-devolving thought patterns.

Was he a bad person for not being happy to be home? Was he being ungrateful? Or betraying his own people?

He recognized that he could not go on like that, drowning in a murky pool of his own mixed-up ideas, but who would help him sort it all out? Guy was out of the question because he was where most of Lee's problems sat. Neji had been combatting his own feelings about Lee's disappearance, and he was certain Tenten would be much the same: too close to the issue.

Who, though, if not his team?

A certain pink-haired shinobi entered his mind. Sakura was in Konoha, she did not dislike Lee but was close enough to him that sharing his feelings would not feel strange, and she was always kind to him, no matter what crazy romantic antic he had tried to spring on her in the past. She would be perfect, as long as she did not feel he was burdening her unnecessarily.

* * *

 **A.N./ Hey everyone! Since today was my birthday, I thought I would post two chapters. Enjoy chapters 12 and 13!**


	13. Chapter 13

It was with the utmost hesitation that Lee found himself wandering toward Sakura's apartment. He had not lied to Guy when he had said that he struggled with discussing his thoughts, and he truly did want to be have time to learn how to talk about them before he began having earnest conversations with his former sensei once more.

Through this thought process, Lee could rationalize how his going to Sakura was not a betrayal of his team. He was simply seeking help from a friend. A peer. Yes, he was not betraying anyone.

He just hoped that Sakura would want to talk with him.

Birds sang for him as he made his way down the streets of Konoha. The cool light of dawn gave way to the softness of morning, and with it, brought a sense of renewal to Lee. This was a new day in the Leaf, and he was mostly home. _Talking this out with someone beyond myself will help me,_ he decided as he reached her door. After raising his hand to his mouth in a brief moment of uncertainty, he brought his knuckles down lightly on the wood. Once. Twice. Enough to draw her attention, hopefully. After a moment, a shuffling was heard behind the door, which swung inward to reveal a bedraggled, yawning Sakura.

"Lee!" Her eyes widened, and she threw her arms around him suddenly. He laughed at the spontaneity of her embrace and returned it. "I heard you were back, but no one was really saying anything else! Where were you? Are you okay? Come in!" She rattled off her thoughts at near sonic speeds and stepped aside almost as swiftly and admitted him into her apartment. He stepped past her with a polite smile before glancing around the apartment.

She followed him back in and motioned for him to sit. He followed her gesture and folded in on himself on her chair. For some odd reason, now that he was faced with the fiery kunoichi, he was struggling to find the words.

"Lee?"

"I am okay, Sakura. I am just… trying to think." He flashed an apologetic smile before his brows knitted together once more. He knew it was odd of him to enter her home and not speak, but she seemed to not care.

"Take your time."

He was so grateful for her attitude – and for the concern he saw in her eyes. It was not as intense as Guy's; she looked worried for a friend who might have something small going on, not like someone dear to her had suffered an insurmountable trauma. _Guy makes me feel like that_ , he realized in that moment. _When he looks at me now, he looks with his own pain and does not see ME._

He swallowed hard at his revelation and began tentatively, "I do not know if the Hokage has told many people about this yet, but I have been gone much longer than it seems. A jutsu sent me into one of the dimensions where demons like the Tailed Beasts live, and time passes a lot faster there. I lived there for four years." It seemed easier to him to blurt out the easy part: the how and when of his disappearance. But discussing these thoughts and feelings plaguing him? How could he ever speak that realization when it painted Guy in such an unfavorable light?

He pushed the thoughts away as Sakura gaped at him. First, he needed to prepare the context for this discussion before moving forward – so he waited. Once she had taken a moment or two to process his words, she asked the most relevant question: "Are you okay?"

 _I could say yes,_ he told himself, but he recognized that his entire reason for being in her apartment so early in the morning was because he was, in fact, very much not okay. Slowly, he shook his head, and she leapt forward to hug him again with a soft murmur of "Oh, Lee!"

"May I talk to you about this, Sakura? If not, it is okay. I just did not know who else to turn to," he confessed as she released him. She nodded and sat beside him on the sofa, apparently ready to listen to his woes.

Deciding to not mince any words, Lee began with his largest trouble first. "I do not understand why I do not feel joyous to have returned," he confided in his friend, his friend who smiled sympathetically.

"You were gone so long. Did you think you would ever see the Leaf Village again?" When he shook his head, Sakura continued, "Lee, you probably have already grieved for the village and your lost life. It's like…" She looked around, searching for something. "It's like Team 7. We've disconnected. Naruto and I have both mourned Sasuke to the point that it will be surreal to ever have him back, and with Naruto gone to train, I don't feel like a member of Team 7 anymore. Does this make any sense to you?"

Lee nodded and leaned forward, speaking earnestly. "You are saying that with the bond gone for such a long time, that role you play is practically dead to you. You are not that same person, and so you might not be able to get back what you had with your teammates."

When Sakura nodded emphatically, Lee continued, "I cannot see Guy like this because I know I am supposed to be happy to see him, but I only feel regret. I miss him. …Or I miss myself." He shook his head, aware that his words made little sense.

"I understand," she murmured as she gently squeezed his knee. "You've changed so much, and you worry that it will change all of your relationships – relationships that you feel you've already lost because it's been so long for you. It's exactly what you just said."

"Do you think that Guy feels the same and that is why he looks at me with such pain in his eyes?"

Sakura's eyes softened at the whispered question. "Oh, Lee," she murmured again. "Yes, I'm positive that's partly it, but you also have to wonder if he feels responsible for what happened. He is your sensei and oversaw that mission."

"But it was not his fault!"

She shook her head. "That doesn't matter. He's the sensei. It's the same with Kakashi-sensei. He feels so responsible for things that he can't control, just because he's over us."

"Like Sasuke?" When she nodded, he sighed. "I wish—I do not know how to say this. I just wish that Guy could look at me," he explained haltingly, "and truly see me, not whatever he fears he might see."

"Naruto has talked about this before: you feel worse when he looks at you with fear and pity because it feels like he'll never look at you like you're normal or just you ever again."

He sighed and nodded. "Exactly! You have said it perfectly, Sakura! I want Guy back like I had him without having to worry that he sees me as different or that I am actually different." Sakura had gotten right to the heart of his woes! She was so perceptive and emotionally intelligent. He patted her hand and felt a small stab in his chest. "Aya would like you."

"Aya?"

"She is my friend in the Village Hidden in the Mirrors. She is…" He smiled and shook his head. "You would like her, Sakura. She is like Ino with her comebacks, but she is as steadfast as Naruto."

Sakura grinned and raised her brows. "Lee," she began teasingly, "Was she more than just your friend?" Lee's cheeks flamed as he violently shook his head. "Why didn't you ask her to come back with you?"

His eyes dropped to the floor, cheeks still hot. "Aya is their jinchuriki. She is not permitted to leave the village." Sakura's eyes widened as she nodded sympathetically. It was that sympathy and kindness that she had always shown him that made him believe he could tell her more. Lee fought the urge to hide his face as he added, "She was my best friend, but she was also like a sister to me. That did not matter, though, because I could never have loved her like that. I-." He ran his tongue over his teeth, and Sakura leaned in with her eyebrows raised. He sighed and fought the urge to end the conversation there.

"I could not love Aya because I had an attraction for another." She waited with her brows still raised, and he heaved another sigh before giving in. "Our sensei."

He waited for the explosion. A noise of disgust. Something other than the reaction he received. She burst out laughing, "And? Everyone does that. I think Kakashi-sensei is very cute! I bet your sensei was hot too. What did she look like?"

Lee drooped at her words. Of course, she did not know anything about his sensei. But that did mean he could play off his attraction and describe a woman. His sensei had looked similar to one. However, that was being untruthful to her and to himself. This was not going away, no matter how much he had wished it would. He debated for a moment longer before deciding he would describe his sensei and either reveal at the end or let her come to her own conclusions.

"Imagine," he began, setting the stage, "A face somewhere between soft and angular and long black hair. Longer and finer than Inoichi Yamanaka's." Her eyes moved upward as she apparently pictured the image he was describing. "My Mirror sensei was like a grayscale painting of royalty: that hair, the palest skin I have seen, and silver eyes. Even the outfit played into this idea! Everyday, it was a black kimono with a forehead protector as the belt. The sash for it was gray, Sakura, gray! Even the handle and sheath for the tanto that my sensei used was a shade of white. The legend was an ancestor took the femur of a slain enemy on the battlefield and affixed a chakra blade to it."

"Wow, that sounds intense. I never knew you were interested in people like that, Lee."

He laughed and shook his head, getting lost in the story telling a little. It was relaxing to talk about the Mirror like that. "Intense? You do not know the half of it, Sakura! My sensei was a member of Retention in their version of the Anbu. Retention is similar to T&I mixed with the hunter-nin. This man rarely smiled and certainly never laughed. It was hard to believe that he was human sometimes!"

"He?"

Lee's face flamed as he tried to backtrack, "Well—he, I meant she… My sensei—"

Sakura interrupted him with a swift hand over his mouth. "Lee! I was just surprised. It isn't a big deal if you feel like that toward guys. You realize that, right?"

His eyes grew round as he shook his head slowly. He did not know that. No one had told him that, but then again, had he ever asked? Sakura slowly moved her hand away, ready to replace it at any moment, but when he spoke, he did not try to push it away. "Does anyone else feel like this?" he asked quietly, his cheeks still burning.

"I'm not really sure," Sakura admitted with a shrug. "Ino-pig says that Shikamaru feels like that about Asuma-sensei, but she's a bad gossip. So I don't know. I think Naruto and Sasuke might be that way toward each other, but they're so full of themselves and their intense rivalry that it's anyone's guess."

He relaxed fractionally. "But others might be…" The word was on the tip of his tongue, but he could not quite shape his mouth around it. Perhaps he just was not ready to accept that term. Either way, Sakura nodded, and he flung his arms around her in a tight embrace. "Oh thank you, Sakura! Talking to you has truly helped to me to understand what I am feeling. How can I ever repay you?"

"I'll collect on it later," she promised with a grin.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14**

Guy jogged around the town in an attempt to get in a little morning training before he joined his two students on the training field. The third still refused to join them, much to his own distress. The jōnin found himself making the loop around the younger shinobis' apartments in hopes of seeing a glimpse of Lee. He hoped that he was settling in, but he had barely seen him during the week he had been back. Actually, he had only seen him that once on his roof. Guy wasn't sure where he was or if he stayed shut up in his apartment. He had called on his student a couple of times since the last time to no avail. And their week to see if he was ready to active duty was nearly up. Day after tomorrow, Lady Tsunade would expect an answer on whether his student was ready to accept missions again, and Guy honestly had no idea. He needed to talk to Lee.

He stood deliberating whether to try again when movement down the path caught his eye. He turned to see Kakashi's former student embracing none other than his own Lee. The boy - _man_ , he reminded himself- looked much more relaxed than the older shinobi had seen him since his return. He had to fight a pang of jealousy as the girl patted the side of his face and said something obviously very affectionate. Lee returned her words. Guy had to turn away. He felt he was intruding on this tender moment that was clearly meant to be between them.

"Guy-sensei!" the girl's voice rang clearly through the silent neighborhood. He turned and raised a hand in greeting without making moves to join them. Neither seemed to notice his reluctance as Lee left her side to join him.

"I think I will begin training this afternoon," Lee announced as he fell in step with the older man.

"That's great, Lee!"

Whatever Kakashi's student had said or done to him, Guy was grateful. He appraised his student from the corner of his eye and concluded that his smile was genuine. Between the smile and the way his eyes shone with happiness, he looked like Lee again. It was enough to make Guy feel like sobbing with joy.

"Will you be joining us on the training field? Tenten and Neji could use your youthful passion!" He clenched a fist and pumped it out from his chest at the last phrase. Lee laughed and nodded, his eyes on the road before them. The split in their paths was coming up, Guy knew, but he couldn't see any way to prolong their conversation. With a touch of something almost like sadness, he slowed as they reached the fork.

"I would like that. See you there!" Lee assured him as he veered away from Guy and walked backwards to wave at the older man. Guy stopped to wave back and watched as his student turned back to head down the road to his own apartment. Disappointment, he realized belatedly, he felt disappointed about Lee departing.

On the walk to the training ground, he listened to the early-morning birds. Lee and Kakashi's student had been up early. An uncomfortable thought crossed his mind – had Lee spent the night there? It wouldn't be unusual for students to find each other in that manner, especially when they were so close in age, and Lee had expressed interest in her before his disappearance. Hell, he had even opened the gates to protect her during the chūnin exams!

He shook his head, uncertain why the thought of the two together needled him so. Lee had looked happier in that moment than Guy had seen him since his return, so the girl had to be doing something right. i _I'm just upset because I couldn't help him,_ /i he decided as he grew nearer to the training ground.

But he was going to have his Lee back soon! That was all that mattered. If he was interacting with others and ready to resume training and missions, Guy decided, then he wasn't likely to just up and disappear. Not like the Uchiha. No, he was going to have his team back, and he could thank that pink-headed kunoichi for it!

He grinned to himself and thrust a fist into the air. i _Ah the budding of young love!_ /i he thought, pushing away any niggling doubts about who should have been helping Lee. Just as long as he received the help he needed.

The early summer heat instilled a wonderful restlessness in his bones, and it was honestly still to early for his students to have made their way to the field. Perhaps he would visit his rival and issue a challenge – a short one most likely, but a challenge nonetheless. He inhaled deeply, his grin widening. Konoha felt lively again. It had been a long half a year.

Altering his course, he realized that he was coming from the direction of the memorial stone. Despite the early hour, he decided he should start there. His rival would likely not be there, but maybe he could get lost along the same "path of life" Kakashi always claimed to be lost on.

Surely enough, the silver-haired jōnin was nowhere in sight, which was a relief to Guy. Kakashi's path of life sometimes seemed a bit stagnant, stuck before the stone too often for the other's comfort. Guy worried about his rival, and he knew the feeling was mutual.

He passed the stone with a light touch and murmured prayer before continuing onward toward the Copy Nin's apartment. The rest of the path was fairly peaceful. He could see the other shinobi with his face buried in his orange book wandering down this path every day, and the image made him smile. He wondered if the man ever sat down beside the reflecting pool nearby and just read.

i _Maybe I should try it_ ,/i he thought as he neared it, i _now that I feel like I can relax._ /i

Poolside, he plopped down and tried meditating, something Ningame had always nagged him to learn to do. Meditation was an act that the wise tortoise hoped would curb Guy's youthful passion and temper his impatience. Not that it worked. Even now, when he felt calm and contented, his legs ached to be used and his mind raced. He looked at the water and wondered how it could be so still. How could the tight buds of the lotus had yet to turn pink and bloom? How could the birds sit and sing for so long without flitting away? How could Kakashi focus on the same book since he first opened it? How could Lee not have accompanied him to train this morning when he had nothing else to do?

Guy pushed the thought away. His student was entitled to his own time, to grieve and process or whatever he needed to do. As a sensei, Guy knew this. He knew that things might take time, but he was ready now!

He sighed as Ningame's voice filled his head. i _Impatient as always._ /i

Guy propelled himself to his feet in one fluid movement. If he had time to kill sitting around, then he had time to challenge his rival – who was clearly not on the path of life at the current moment.

He found Kakashi perched on his roof, much like he had found his student days prior. Though, at least today, no one seemed to be brooding. That boded well for any challenge to be declared.

"Eternal Rival!" Guy called up, not bothering to leap to the other shinobi, "I issue a challenge!" Kakashi rolled his eye, but Guy knew that it to be a 'might as well humor him' eyeroll. The rival in question leapt from the roof and landed in front of Guy.

With his visible eye narrowed, Kakashi looked the taijutsu master up and down. "So," he began as he made a couple more passes, "You seem to be in good spirits."

"I'm always in good spirits when I come to challenge my rival!"

He seemed to weigh the other man's words, the dubious expression never once wavering. After a few beats, he finally spoke, "It's my turn to issue the challenge."


	15. Chapter 15

"It may be your turn, Eternal Rival, but this shall be my win!" Guy declared before striking his Nice Guy™ pose. The morning sun glinted off his teeth, and Kakashi rolled his eyes at the trademark thumbs-up.

"Are you ready, Guy?"

"Always!"

Kakashi touched a finger to his cloth-covered lips, tapping it as though he were in thought. "I challenge you to a test of teachi-."

"I accept!" Despite his furrowed brows, Guy did not hesitate; the words tumbled from his lips before his rival had the chance to finish. His heart skipped a beat as the other jōnin's visible eye crinkled in what Guy knew to be a smirk.

"Give me a minute to finish, Guy. My student against yours at training ground 7 around early evening."

"Agreed! Tenten will be pleased to spar against someone other than myself or Neji. Her youthfulness just can't be tempered, Kakashi."

Kakashi snorted and shook his head. "I don't want to pit our kunoichi against one another."

This caused Guy to pause. "Neji?" he asked, his heavy brows raised but knitted. When his rival shook his head, the taijutsu sensei considered rejecting a challenge for the first time.

As though he was sensing Guy's thoughts, Kakashi reminded him, "You challenged _me_ and already accepted."

"He's just agreed to train again," Guy despaired.

"It isn't like you to doubt your students."

Guy said no more as his shoulders slumped forward. Kakashi eye-smiled and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Once alone, Guy heaved a heavy sigh and headed for his training field to prep his students beforehand.

hr

"Why are we waiting for Kakashi-sensei?" Lee asked much later in the day. Guy turned to look at his student before turning his face back to the ground. His eyes shaded by his hair, he refused to answer. _Why does Kakashi want Lee to spar with his student? Is he punishing them for their relationship? Or is he testing me? My loyalty?_

His rival appeared before his mind's eye, scowling with his masks down.

" _What will you do, Guy? Betray the Hokage? Become a missing-nin?" The dark eyes burned intensely into Guy's own, the anger deeply etched in the shinobi's face._

 _"If that is how Lady Tsunade feels I need to be labeled."_

 _Kakashi growled and turned his back on his friend. "You're worse than Naruto," he muttered scathingly. "He's gone, Guy! He won't be coming back! Just accept it." Guy could almost see the other jōnin's face fall at the last sentence._

 _"I refuse to accept that. Lee will be found." The resolve in the taijutsu sensei's voice turned Kakashi around. With his face set, Guy held a fist before himself. "If Lady Hokage declares him dead, I_ _ **will**_ _leave the village and I_ _ **will**_ _find my student, Kakashi. This I vow."_

 _"You're throwing your life away. You'll lose everything you stand for in Konoha. Everything you've fought to become – just gone."_

 _Guy laid his hand on his rival's shoulder as he fought the lump threatening to steal his voice. "I appre-appreciate your concern, but that boy..." He shook his head, his eyes sliding to the floor. He felt a hand tenderly wipe away his tears. "That boy," he repeated as his determined eyes met Kakashi's eyes, "he's my ninja way. I will_ _ **always**_ _do whatever I have to for him."_

 _"You're throwing it all away on the dead."_

With their sensei standing with that far-away look in his eyes, Lee looked to Neji, who didn't seem to struggle for words. "Kakashi has challenged Guy-sensei to a teaching competition. From what I understand, you are to fight Sakura to see who has taught their student better."

Guy pulled himself from his thoughts in time to see Lee blanch. As he had expected, his student was not thrilled about his new position. "It will be okay, Lee. It's just –"

"A challenge between two old rivals. You're just settling our score," Kakashi assured Lee with an eye smile as he stood above them on the underneath of a branch.

"Kakashi-sensei! We didn't even notice you coming!" Tenten exclaimed as everyone watched the jōnin leap effortlessly onto the ground. He eye-smiled once again before (assumedly) winking at the kunoichi.

"Sakura is on her way. Are you ready, Guy?"

Guy allowed a rare scowl to cross his face at his Eternal Rival. "Shouldn't you be asking Lee if he's ready?"

Kakashi chuckled and looked at the student that Guy doubted he had even laid eyes on in the five days that the young man had been back from the Mirror. "He looks fine to me, Guy. Lee, want to forfeit already and break your sensei's tie with me? Because I won't be upset if that's what you want."

Guy watched the flicker of emotions on Lee's face before it settled on determination. "What are the rules?" his student demanded. "What is permitted and expected in this match? Jutsu? Ninja tools? Straight taijutsu? Injuries?"

"What? It's just a spar, Lee. Of course we're trying to avoid injuries!" Guy looked to his team for help, but they offered nothing but concerned looks. "You're just sparring with a teammate."

"Typical rules apply," Kakashi added, "All jutsu as long as you're not likely to maim or seriously injure. Ninja tools too. Think of this as a showcase for your prowess."

"What if you're focused on healing and not offense?" All eyes turned to the pink-headed kunoichi as she grinned and waved. "Hey, Lee! Are you as nervous as I am about this? I'm not going to enjoy wiping the floor with you."

Lee seemed to relax at her friendly banter. "I am worried about putting you in the hospital. Lady Tsunade can only work so many miracles." Despite his comeback, Guy could still read the worry written between the young man's eyes.

And apparently so could his opponent. "Don't worry," she assured him genuinely, "Team 7 members bounce back. Just give it your all, okay?" When Lee nodded, she positively beamed at him, and Guy's eye twitched. But the tension completely dropped from his shoulders at her words, so Guy could not remain irritated at her.

"We're just going to step to the side, right Guy?"

Guy nodded before following his rival. He ground his teeth as he watched the pair feel out the field and get into their stances.

"It almost hurts, Kakashi," he said suddenly, "he was my student six months ago. Now he's so different." He turned to the other jōnin with the worry he had been trying to conceal clear on his face. "My Lee never would have asked if he could hurt her. He would have avoided even the thought until she had beaten him to the point of no return."

Kakashi's single eye hardened as it moved from their students that he had been watching so casually. "You have to remember that he is not the same man as your student. He is not 'your Lee' anymore, Guy."

Guy's eyes softened in return and took in his rival who had also lost a student. "But some parts remain the same. The most basic parts."

Kakashi rolled his eye and motioned to the pair waiting in their fighting stances. "Enough chatter. Take him out, Sakura!"


	16. Chapter 16

"Remember, Lee, give it your all, alright?" the kunoichi reminded Lee as he stood one arm tucked behind his back, the other palm up before him. His legs slid into his fighting stance, feet spread wide, before he glanced at the jōnin on the sidelines.

As soon as the words left Kakashi-sensei's mouth, Sakura leapt into action. Grinning, she leapt backwards. Three kunai sailed at Lee's head without him ever having seen them launched. He dodged two and caught the third flat between his palms. Letting it fall to the ground at his feet, he smiled brightly at his opponent.

"Good start, Lee!" Guy cheered from the sidelines.

He turned to share a smile with the jōnin, but the moment was interrupted when he was drilled with a chakra-enhanced punch to the jaw that sent him sprawling into the nearest tree. He rubbed his jaw as he found his way to his feet.

"That is new, Sakura," Lee commented as he returned to his fighting stance.

"Thanks, I wanted to show off. Why don't you show me something new now?" she practically purred.

Lee glanced at the two shinobi on the sidelines once again, wondering what they were wanting out of this spar. What specifically? Kakashi-sensei's bored eye made contact with Lee's and the older man raised a brow.

He opened his mouth to speak but Tenten beat him to it, "Get your head back in the match, dummy! Do you want her wiping the floor with you?"

"Just do your best," Guy hesitantly supplied from behind the Copy-Nin.

 _Do my best_ , he repeated to himself like a mantra, _Just do my best. Must do my best._

Head and heart back in the match, he checked his stance and stuck his tongue out tauntingly at his sparring partner. She took the bait and sprang forward, fists flying. He knew now to dodge them or face another heavy blow. His jaw ached at the thought.

Her punches seemed random at first, but he found the pattern. The rhythm. Weaving between the fists, he popped forward the lightly brush his knuckles against her nose. Which only irritated her, apparently. She fell back and began throwing kunai again.

Lee stilled and listened. Between her throws and his own heartbeat, he could hear the rhythm. A song. A slow smile spread across his face as he fell into another stance – a new stance. He caught the looks his teammates shared as he slid one foot behind him and raised his elbow before his face, hand splayed in the air over his shoulder.

Sakura said nothing but charged without properly feeling out the situation. Lee felt confident that the spar would be considered over soon, even without knowing the sensei's requirements.

She drew back, and Lee threw his arm downward. Falling through the momentum, he threw his balance into his hands and brought his legs down in a powerful kick. His feet connected with her fist and knocked her off-balance. As she fell forward, he landed and immediately leapt back, letting his momentum carry his body backward with his arms going first. His feet connected with her chin, one at a time. Her head snapped back, knocking her out of her forward descent and backwards.

He landed neatly on his feet, feeling a touch conflicted. He had done this dance so many times with his Mirror team, and Sakura did not know it. Would it be unfair to end the spar like this?

He decided he did not care.

Sakura made her way to her feet and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. The fire in her eyes told him that his opponent was also done playing. He moved back into his new stance.

She was more hesitant this time. Her blows seemed pulled as they pulverized the air around Lee. He also pulled his attacks as he dodged on his hands. His fluid, rhythmic kicks made light connections with her wrists and forearms without either causing injury to the other.

Without warning, he did another pass on his hands and knocked her feet from under her with a foot sweeping across the grass. As she fell, he moved back to his stance and allowed chakra to flood through him. Gate of Opening!

"Lee!" he heard shouted from the edge of the field. Without wasting a glance that way, his body began to move. Quickly.

"Budding Lotus!" he cried as he sprang into action. Using his foot, he threw the girl into the air. As she went up, she tried to right herself. Green blades formed around her hands, but it was too late. Lee spun in a tornado of kicks as she came down toward them.

He was battering her with his feet when suddenly, she was gone.

Lee moved back into his stance, looking around for his opponent only to find her held by her sensei an arm's length from himself. He frowned before collapsing on the ground. The chakra receded, leaving him in pain and bleeding from the wounds Sakura had inflicted to his legs with her blades made from chakra.

"Is she okay?" he panted.

"She will be," was the only answer he received before the silver-haired jōnin disappeared with his student in a swirl of leaves.

His team came over, Tenten leading as she ran at him. Sharp smacks hit around his head and shoulders. "Are you crazy!? What if you had really hurt her?" she scolded. Lee hung his head and let her, agreeing with her. He hoped he had not injured her too badly when she had most likely not tried to hurt him.

The blows stopped and a broad hand came to rest on his shoulder. "Come on, Lee. Let's get you to a hospital," Guy said softly as he gently squeezed Lee's shoulder.

"Thank you, but I am fine," he assured the trio as he shrugged off the hand. "Did you win your challenge, Guy?"

He looked up to see an emotion akin to pain cross the older shinobi's face. "Yes."

Lee nodded before pushing himself to his feet. He looked straight ahead across the training field as he said, "I do not think I will train tomorrow, if that is okay with you."

"That's okay, Lee. But please, let me see you to the hospital for your feet."

Lee shook his head and headed off the field silently, leaving his team to watch him go.

* * *

 **A.N./ hey everyone, sorry about the delay in these chapters, and I'm sorry that this one isn't as well written as it could be. Fight scenes are a struggle for me, but I tried to base Lee's Mirror fighting style off capoeira, an African fighting style/dancing form that is very acrobatic and rhythmic. Budding Lotus is basically a capoeira move known as helicoptero.**


	17. Chapter 17

What was this feeling crawling under his skin? This discomfort that had dogged him every step to the Hokage's office? Guy frowned and rubbed at his arms before knocking on the door, and yet, the feeling persisted.

"Come in."

Stepping through the door, he gave a shallow bow and shut the door tight. Hoping against hope, Guy wished that Lady Tsunade would not see his emotions, but he felt transparent under her gaze.

"Guy. You just missed Kakashi."

He forced a chuckle. "He's always ahead of me, my Eternal Rival." So, his rival had run straight here after the match. As he had suspected, the Lady Hokage had put Kakashi up to that.

Lady Tsunade steepled her fingers before her on the desk, her demeanor becoming more businesslike. "Well, Guy," she said, "Kakashi told me about the spar."

Guy's skin began to burn in places.

"Yeah," he laughed, scratching the back of his head. "It was some match."

"He floored Sakura."

"He did! He seems to have grown leaps and bounds since he was gone," Guy added. Why did his skin feel like it was going to peel off?

"Stop wasting my time," she ordered. "He went too far, didn't he?"

"Y-ye—" He hesitated. This discomfort, it was the threat of going against his ninja way. He would do anything for Lee – he had told Kakashi that – and now… "Lee was told to do his best."

"He was also told that there were to be no injuries."

"You can't spar without causing injuries! His instructions were unreasonable!"

Tsunade leaned forward, her voice dangerously low. "Would Sakura say that her injuries were unreasonable?"

He tried not to shrink under her gaze. "Were they severe?" he asked softly.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that once again, he has opened the Gates during a spar with a teammate."

Guy swallowed hard and pressed his lips together tightly. "I know," he admitted. "I know, and I mean to talk to him about that. I'm sure there's a good reason. Lee wouldn't just do it for no reason."

"He has before," she reminded him less than gently.

"Please, Lady Tsunade. He—he wants to be a shinobi for Konoha again. If he was barred, he'd – he'd – I'm afraid he would leave," he confessed. _Again,_ he thought to himself, but that was unfair to his student. He hadn't asked to leave the first time.

She sighed and seemed to steel herself for what she was about to say to him. "I had thought," she began slowly, "of promoting the boy once he was cleared to rejoin our ranks." At the rising hope in Guy's expression, she said sharply, "However. Due to his actions in this spar, I am listing him as active – on a probationary basis! Don't look so excited, Guy. He could have made chūnin today if it weren't for his actions."

Guy nodded and tried to contain his excitement. "How long will he be on probation? Will he be placed on my team again?"

Lady Tsunade rubbed her eyes wearily before answering, "He will be on your team as a genin until such time he proves either mature enough to not be a liability to his village."

Despite her harsh words, Guy kneeled before her and thanked her. This was all he wanted: Lee to be a shinobi under him once more. He hadn't betrayed his ninja way and his Most Important Person!

As he rose to leave, the Hokage stopped him with a finger pointed squarely at his face. "Let me give you a thought before you go. This student of yours has been gone for a long time. He has trained for years out of your sight. He's not going to be the same boy who disappeared six months ago. This incident might be the first, and he might just be much stronger than we know. I wouldn't be surprised if he is on par with some of our jōnin."

"I thought you trusted the Mirror and the Mishūkage?" he asked carefully.

"I can only trust them so far with so little knowledge. Just keep an eye on him."

Guy smiled tightly and bowed his head. "Thank you, Lady Hokage. I will keep that in mind."

* * *

Lee knocked lightly on the hospital room door. He did not know that he could ever feel that awful; his heart felt worse than when he had been upset with Guy and Neji before the Mirror.

"Come in!"

He opened the door slowly, wary of the owner of the lively voice that invited him in. Sakura sat on the hospital bed. Bandages wrapped around her body seemingly at random. The sight was enough to almost drive Lee from the room. _He_ had done this to her.

"Lee!" Her green eyes settled on his, and she waved him inward. "Come in, come in!" He trudged in and moved to sit in the guest chair, but she scooted over. "Sit with me."

He checked for cords before sitting beside her, their backs side by side against the headboard of the hospital bed. It took a moment of silence for Lee to find his voice, but finally he spoke up.

"I am sorry, Sakura. I did not mean to go so far!" Had he been standing, he would have thrown himself on the floor to beg for her forgiveness. Siting, all he could offer was a sincere expression of his misery by allowing his tears to fall freely.

Sakura laughed and patted his leg. "Lee, I'm okay. They healed me right up. See?" She began unwrapping the gauzes to prove to him that her skin was unmarred by their fight.

"Lady Tsunade worried my organs might have been a little bruised so she ordered me to stay overnight, but I'm honestly fine," she assured him when his dubious expression persisted.

"I am still sorry. I should not have opened the First Gate."

She frowned briefly at his second apology before smiling again.

"Tell me about the Mirror again?" she asked as she laid her head on his shoulder. "About your team."

"Oh," he breathed, surprised by the sudden shift in conversation. "Uh... Well, teams are different in the Mirror. It was just me, Aya, and Daichi-sensei. Once Aya and I reached jōnin level, we would have left Daichi-sensei to be a team of our own."

"Oh, that is different!" She moved off his shoulder and turned to face him better before asking, "So you only ever sparred with a jōnin and a jinchūriki while you were there?"

He nodded, and she smiled sharply. "How could you keep up with them in a match? Could you ever win?"

He opened his mouth to answer and closed it immediately. She had trapped him. Her smile changed to that of a nonverbal 'I told you so' when she saw the cornered look in his eyes.

"Come on, Lee, tell me," she insisted.

He let out a long sigh. "I had to use the Gates sometimes," he finally admitted.

Sakura did not even pretend to be shocked. "That's how you're used to fighting now, Lee. The Gates are no longer off-limits special jutsu." She laid her hand over his. "Kakashi-sensei warned me that you might hurt me unintentionally, but Lady Tsunade needed to know."

The Hokage had put Kakashi-sensei up to that? Lee's brows furrowed as he looked at his friend. "Why?"

"Lee, you know this. She wanted to know how much stronger you had gotten. I guess so she knows where to put you once you're going on missions again. Right?"

Her green eyes met his where he read a hopefulness. Forgiveness too. Was she also hoping for his forgiveness for testing him without his knowledge?

He smiled at her easily. "I am not mad at you or Kakashi-sensei. Or even Lady Tsunade. I wish that they could have allowed me to spar with a jōnin, though." He quickly added, "No offense meant to you, of course."

She shook her head with a laugh. "Of course not! I just wish you could have really cut loose against someone. Wouldn't it have been great if Lady Tsunade had promoted you to jōnin today?" She sat back against the headboard with a sigh.

"It would have been," he agreed, "But for now I just hope she allows me to go on missions again."

"She will, I'm sure."

He leaned back beside her and smiled. "Hopefully. I would rather talk about you, though. Tell me, what has happened while I was gone?"

She began describing the search effort to find him, the minor skirmishes the Leaf had had with the Sound. News of Naruto. News of Sasuke. Just filling him in on what all he had missing during his six-month trip to another dimension. She honestly made it sound like he had been on vacation.

It was easy to sit back, laugh with her, and forget that he might be punished by Lady Tsunade or Guy when he left. If he left. The hours felt like they were flying by with them sitting together in bed, enjoying each other's company. He wished it could have been like this before he left.


	18. Chapter 18

Koi swam under the water. Their colors flashed as they floated beneath patches of light cast through the leaves above. Serenity. That's what Guy felt here. He was at peace, grounded without worry. Despite the closed buds of the lotuses on the water, he felt himself opening.

Time to lose himself on the Path of Life.

He sat cross-legged beside the reflecting pool, his hands in his lap, as he breathed deeply. Reflection and meditation. He could do this. He would sort through his thoughts and find a best way forward with Lee – without those fears that lingered in the periphery.

His student needed his help.

That was the core of his thoughts. His student needed help returning fully to Konoha. There was the center of Guy's new goal: helping Lee. Even though his help might be unwanted. He wanted to push the thought away and believe Lee would always need him. It was just that easy to feel paternalistic toward the young man, but Guy recognized that he was no longer his mentor, in anyone's eyes. Lady Tsunade wanted him watched, not taught. And Lee - his sweet Lee - Guy didn't know him as well anymore. He might not need Guy the same way he used to, but that was okay.

"We'll be okay," he breathed gently, his words a light stirring on the air. Where he had been stricken in the Hokage's office, he could be collected while meditating. He needed to sort through his thoughts, alone and in quiet. It was hard to do that in front of the Hokage.

Lee, his thoughts were with Lee – and had been for a long time. Only now, his Lee was different, and they weren't as close. But they could be close again! It wasn't as though the boy Guy had known was lost to him; he had just grown in a separate direction that no one really understood.

 _I'll simply get to know him again,_ he decided. _I'll learn who he is. What he wants. What he needs._

Unbidden, the image of Lee sparring came into his head, and while it had confused him at the time, he couldn't help but admire his student's new fighting style - now that he could recall it in tranquility. He had rarely seen such fluid movements from Lee. Only during Drunken Fist had he ever moved with such fluidity. And the graceful acrobatics! Guy shook his head, amazed that a new taijutsu technique could steal his breath like that. He resolved to ask Lee about it – and maybe even to teach it to him! He wasn't too old to learn! It would also give them time together.

Allowing himself to shift away from any thoughts that he could lose his student, he made plans for their future with Lee a part of the team again. And to start spreading these positive thoughts, he would go talk to the kunoichi who had best been able to reach the newly-returned Lee! He would even take her advice since she seemed to understand him the most.

With a murmured thanks to the reflecting pool, he moved to his feet and headed for the hospital. But when he arrived, he ran into his own student leaving. Unexpected, but not unappreciated. Especially when Lee smiled up at him – though, he no longer had far to smile up.

"Hello, Lee. How are your legs?" he asked politely, hoping that whatever ill feelings Lee had felt after his spar had dissipated. Or, had lessened at least. He would understand if Lee was angry with him for allowing the match to occur.

It didn't seem that the younger shinobi was very upset, though. He looked down at his legs as though he had forgotten that he had ever been injured.

"They are fine. Sakura healed them for me."

Guy nodded understandingly. "I take it that she's recovering well, then?"

"Yes! Lady Tsunade has insisted that she stay overnight, but she promises that she is quite well," he explained as he began leading Guy back out of the hospital. Guy didn't protest. This was just as well. They could spend some time together, and maybe he could mention Lee's new taijutsu. Though, for now he decided to enjoy his company.

As they made their way through the streets, he admired the way his student moved. Other than the issue with the spar, he was apparently adjusting pretty well to being home. Had Guy been in his position, he doubted he could navigate the village the way the young man before him was.

Perhaps the Mirror Village wasn't too different from their own. It certainly hadn't been unkind to him. He smiled as he took in the boy's shaggy hair; he had taken to wearing it in a similar fashion to his academy haircut, and Guy had to admit that while the bowl-cut had been flattering to himself, Lee looked better with this haircut. A soft ache spread through his chest at the thought of who the boy had been just six months prior – his own little facsimile. And now Lee was nearly as tall as he was!

"Lee?"

The boy turned, his brows raised. Boy, man. It was a hard adjustment to make mentally. "Can I make you dinner tonight? I'd like to catch up with you," he offered with a smile. It was not necessarily an unusual request as Guy had often had him over as a guest, but since it had been so long for Lee, maybe it would be awkward. He just wasn't sure. He hadn't ever been in this position before.

"I would like that, Guy," Lee replied with a grin.

'Guy'. He had noticed that Lee had begun dropping the sensei since his return. Though, if Tsunade's theories were accurate, Lee had certainly earned the right to simply call him by his name. The Hokage seemed determined to believe that Lee had advanced to near jōnin-level during his absence. He had possibly become Guy's equal in theory, but he was unwilling to test that thought so soon.

Perhaps that would have been a better place to start, but he couldn't worry about that just now. This young man had agreed to join him for dinner to catch up.

"Still like curry?"


	19. Chapter 19

The dinner was going well, in Guy's estimation. Lee had loudly exclaimed over missing Guy's cooking, and Guy had gushed over his youthful ways. Then both had dug in with a robustness that came so naturally to them. It had been nice, normal even. Guy wouldn't say that it wasn't nice to fall so easily back into their old ways, but he remembered that there was a point to this dinner: to forge new ways forward.

With that in mind, he cleared the dishes. Lee stood to help, but he waved him off. "If you want," he offered, "you could head on into the living room. I'll join you in just a second." The young man nodded with a smile and disappeared into the other room. After depositing the dishes in the sink, Guy followed.

Lee had settled on the far end of the couch facing the opposite end, where Guy sat himself. "I'm glad you're back, Lee. I—We missed you." He quickly added, "But it seems it was time well spent! That spar today…"

Lee began to look sheepish, but Guy held up a hand. "I'm not chastising you tonight. Anything like that can be discussed tomorrow. Right now, I want to talk about your new taijutsu! Tell me about it. You've never moved like that before."

"Oh," Lee laughed in apparent relief. "It is the Mirror's taijutsu. Well, it is Daichi-sensei's taijutsu. The Mirror as a village is more focused on genjutsu."

"Really?"

"Yes, the HoShann – they are like Anbu – they wear masks made of mirrors that are used in the official genjutsu of the organization. But I am getting off-track," the younger shinobi reminded Guy before shifting in his seat. Now he faced Guy more directly, his legs crossed before him while his back rested against the arm of the couch.

"Our taijutsu is Dorei Dansu. It is beautiful, is it not? Daichi-sensei was helping me develop new jutsu with the Gates to go with it." He beamed and added, "They had lost the technique of opening the Gates, so I was teaching Daichi-sensei at the same time."

"You taught a jōnin a new technique? I didn't realize you were so hip!"

"I am not," Lee laughed. "He barely needed my help once I explained the concept."

"You're too modest," Guy accused. His heart warmed when he saw the faint blush spread across the younger man's cheeks. "Maybe you could teach another jōnin?"

Lee looked at him, brows raised. "To open the Gates?"

"No," he clarified, "Teach me Dorei Dansu."

He watched as Lee's face flickered through a range of emotions. Confusion, surprise, hesitancy, and finally something that Guy didn't know what to call.

"Oh, Guy," he started, "I—I would love to teach you." He seemed genuinely touched by Guy's request, which made the warmth in the older man's chest spread. He patted Lee's knee before getting up and returning with tea. He just hoped that Lee felt as happy about this as he did.

Something good was going to come from Lee's stint in the Mirror.

Guy's mind wandered for a moment, and he wondered if anything else good had come from the Land of Glass for Lee.

"Lee?"

"Hmm?" Large eyes met his, and they both smiled.

"Four years is a long time. Did you leave anyone behind in the Mirror Village?"

Lee's face deflated briefly before his cheeks tightened into a tense smile. Guy could also feel his own whiplash from the rapid change in the younger man's emotions. Maybe this was a topic he shouldn't have breached, but Lee wasn't holding back.

"A few friends," he readily admitted. "Aya mainly. I trained with her a lot." Guy could hear the unspoken other half of that sentence: 'spent a lot of time with her'. He nodded and hoped the boy would continue without prodding. He used to open up to Guy about everything, and Guy found that he missed that intimacy. "She was the one who figured out how to send me back." The smile was long gone, and tears appeared to be welling in his eyes. "I miss her so much. I wish she could have come with me."

"Why didn't she?"

He laughed quietly, but it was angry. "Sakura asked me the same question," he informed Guy as he wiped his eyes. "She is their jinchūriki. She is not permitted to leave." A stray tear slipped down his cheek as he sipped the tea that Guy had offered him.

"It's hard to leave a loved one," Guy assured him sympathetically.

Lee nodded. "I know. It was hard being away from you all at first."

Guy felt his heart lift at the comparison. "But it got better. Maybe it'll do the same with her."

Lee shook his head before explaining, "I had made a family there. I have never had a family like that. I mean, of course I had you and Neji and Tenten, but this was different. You all were my team. But there…" He shook his head, his eyes still damp. "Aya was the closest I have ever felt to a sister. We lived together, trained together, did everything together. And Tsung-sensei – he was the aide and advisor to the Mishūkage, but we met all the time for lunch and lessons about the Mirror. He was always helping me along, just like a grandfather. He rooted for me."

Guy recognized the pain in his voice as he choked out, "And now I will never see them again." He gathered Lee in his arms and let the young man sob into his shoulder.

Petting his hair, he murmured comfortingly. "That's it, Lee. Let it all out."

After several long moments, Lee pulled away and wiped at his face. He managed a watery smile as he thanked Guy, who simply waved him off.

"You can always talk to me, Lee. I'm here for you – always," he promised.

"I know," Lee sniffled. "We were having a nice time until I did this, though."

"I'm still having a nice time," Guy assured him. "But if you aren't, we can do something else."

"Or we could make it worse," his dear, dear student mumbled. "Can we go ahead and talk about the spar since I am already unhappy?"

"Where did this masochistic streak come from, Lee?" Guy exclaimed, well aware that it had always been there. Lee had never stopping pushing once he had hit something painful. He sighed before opening the conversation with what he felt the worst part was, "Lady Tsunade knows what happened, and she seems to think you might be unstable. She didn't phrase it like that, but you're reinstated on a probationary period."

Lee nodded solemnly. "The Hokage is very generous. That is more than I expected," he admitted. "I worried she would keep me a civilian for the rest of my life."

"I wouldn't have let that happened," he replied darkly before forcing himself to lighten up. "No, she is just keeping you a genin 'until you prove mature enough not to be a liability to the village'," he quoted.

"Sounds like I am the same as I was when I left," Lee attempted to joke, and Guy couldn't help but chuckle.

"It would seem so."

Lee sighed and retrieved his cup of tea from the table. "May I tell you something in confidence?"

"Always," was the immediate answer.

"I have been avoiding you for this past week. Until yesterday."

Guy tried not to feel hurt by his student's words. It wasn't hard since he had suspected as much. In return, he admitted, "I was avoiding you – as much as I could as your sensei, anyway."

Lee studied his face for a moment before holding Guy's eyes with his own for several beats. "The fear is gone from your eyes," he observed.

Guy went from feeling drawn in to Lee's brown eyes to feeling stripped in an instant. Had Lee seen through him so easily? His brows furrowed as he wet his lips. It was true, though. His fears had been taken care of at the reflecting pool – dismissed, shoved aside, or locked away.

"Is that good?"

"Yes," Lee breathed, a smile spreading across his face. "All night, you have been looking at _me_ , not the parts of me that you fear." He seemed to relax, so Guy also relaxed.

"And all night, you've been here, not in another dimension," he replied with his own observation. "May I tell you something in confidence?" he echoed back to Lee.

Lee looked surprised but nodded anyway. "Of course!"

"I was afraid of losing you again. I couldn't understand how you were here, and I worried you would run back. That you would leave like the Uchiha. I feared reaching out to only be rejected by someone I didn't even know anymore."

Lee reached out and took one of Guy's hands between both of his. He stroked along Guy's fingers and squeezed his hand tightly. But the chills that ran down Guy's back – they were just from the draft, he assured himself.

"But we will know each other again. I am not going anywhere."

Guy pulled one of Lee's hands to his cheek and held it there. He liked his words. Liked the assurance from his Most Important Person.


	20. Chapter 20

**A.N./ I'm adding Chapters 20 & 21 tonight (just so no one misses the update). Maybe we'll see some progress forward!**

* * *

"I do not think you will need much help from me," Lee began as he looked to his sweat-drenched mentor. Neji and Tenten shot them curious glances as the two chūnin packed their things to leave the training field. It had been a hard day of sparring for all, but Guy had asked Lee to begin teaching him Dorei Dansu – and who was he to deny the man? After all, he had waited almost a week for Lee to begin regularly training again after his disastrous spar with Sakura.

"I'll at least need you to make sure I'm doing it correctly." Guy flashed him a gleaming smile. "Come on, sensei," he teased, motioning toward the center of the field. Lee's cheeks warmed at the playful title, but he headed toward the older man anyway.

"Fine, let us start with the beginning stance," he ordered. When Guy chuckled quietly, he realized his mistake and added, "Please." He got into the position and explained that this was the position from which almost all other moves come. "Your feet need to be spread slightly wider than your shoulders with your back straightened but forward at an angle."

He motioned to his own feet and ran a hand down his own back. When he stepped out of the stance and checked Guy's, he shook his head.

"You need to be squatting a little more. Your knees should be bent like this," he corrected, gently pushing the seasoned shinobi's knee forward to the right position. Guy grinned down at him, but Lee just shook his head as he stood back upright.

"You know, you would make a good sensei."

Lee rolled his eyes good-naturedly and demonstrated the hand position. "Protect the face but stay loose. This style is all about moving from one position to the next fluidly." He did not point out that he feared his sensei might be the wrong type to learn Dorei Dansu, but he recognized that slimmer builds have an easier time with the movements. _What am I thinking?_ he wondered as he watched Guy feel out the stance. _He is a taijutsu master! He can master anything!_

"We can move into the Ginkgo," he said loudly once he saw that Guy was fine. "It is a simple step to prepare for an attack. Ginkgo is good for launching both offensive and defensive moments, so it is considered a staple for this style." He moved into the stance.

"We basically rock back and forth." He stepped left and swung his right foot behind, left hand protecting his face. Then he alternated.

"Got it?"

"Yeah," Guy answered. Once again, Lee turned to watch as he taught his former sensei to do the move – which he did perfectly.

Since he immediately had a grasp on the two core parts, Lee launched into the movements he had learned. As Guy mastered each movement, Lee began making up his own on the fly, which Guy promptly copied.

Somehow, it became a competition. A spar even. Their rhythms fit so well together that it became a dance. Guy's legs would fly over Lee's head as Lee dodged low to the ground. Lee would sweep the ground, and Guy would practically cartwheel away. The beat pounded in both of their heads, in their hearts.

And then, Lee gave a face-height push kick as Guy kicked at the same height from his hands. Their feet tangled and the two collapsed into a laughing pile of limbs. Lee tried to extract himself from his mentor, only to flop down beside him on the ground.

Guy raised himself on one elbow and looked over at Lee, his face flushed with exertion. "If that's what your spars are normally like…" He breathed out a chuckle, "Daichi Hachirou must be a fit man."

"You have no idea," Lee muttered as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "It is an exciting style, is it not?" he asked as he mimicked Guy's position.

"It's very hip!"

"I enjoyed teaching it to you, but it is a little unfair that you have mastered it in an afternoon while I needed four years," he complained with a smile.

"Were you solely learning the Dorei Dansu?" Guy asked pointedly.

Lee sighed and shook his head. "No, for the first year, I was not even permitted to be an actual shinobi, and then Daichi-sensei insisted that we work on my chakra transformation." He groaned and rolled dramatically onto his stomach. "That was a miserable three months. Thank the Mirror he gave up when he did or I might still be there trying to perform a genjutsu."

"He forced you to work on your chakra abilities?" Guy asked as he sat up, his brows furrowed.

Lee rested his chin on his hands and looked at the other man. "Yes – form and shape, and he would not listen when I said that I could do no better."

"So what did you manage to do in three months?" the older shinobi asked curiously.

Lee sighed and sat up, uncertain what Guy expected him to have accomplished. "I improved my chakra control. I can fight on water now." He ran a tongue over his teeth and looked away. Three months of work and he still could not shape chakra or change its form.

He did not know what he expected, but it certainly was not Guy pulling to his feet and crushing him tightly to his chest. "I'M SO PROUD!" his mentor shouted as the tears streamed down his cheeks.

"I am glad," Lee mumbled as he attempted to free his arms to return the embrace.

Guy finally released him and held him at arm's length to study him. "Was this Daichi a better sensei than me?" he asked in what Lee assumed equal parts of worry and pride.

"No, of course not!" Lee shook his head vehemently. "He had a different knowledge base, and the chakra control I did during my first year!"

Apparently satisfied with Lee's answer, the older shinobi wrapped his arm around his shoulder and led him off the training field. "Let's get some food. My treat."

Lee was not about to argue with that.


	21. Chapter 21

Lee waved goodbye to his teammates and Guy, glad to have time to himself on the training field for once. Someone was always there in the early morning, then team training in the late morning, lunch, individual sparring but still team-based in the afternoon, and then more often than not, alternating individual sessions with Guy in the evening. He loved his team, but he wanted time to train alone without having to go hide out in the back hills in the dead of night. He wanted the field to himself.

A couple weeks before, Lee had taught Guy in Dorei Dansu, and now all Guy wanted to do during Lee's training was spar with him. To an extent, Lee could understand his immediate obsession. New taijutsu for a taijutsu master – it was impossible for the man not to have a one-track mind. But Lee wanted to move forward in other ways, and the only way to do that was to practice.

He had originally gone to Sakura in hopes of learning better chakra control. She had told him that it was just hard work and that Rock Lee was a genius of hard work. Her instruction had been to try to very, very finely tune his control to use her chakra-augmented punch method that she had learned from Lady Tsunade. And her first step? Meditation.

Go sit somewhere quiet, she had told him. Sit there and focus. Recognize and reorder your thoughts. You can't focus unless you've cleared your mind up.

So, he sat down cross-legged under a battered tree. Meditation could not be that hard. His eyes closed, he inhaled deeply and released the tension in his shoulders with the breath. What was on his mind? Chakra control obviously, but he was currently working on that. His other secret training, that could be put aside. Guy's current obsession with Dorei Dansu? He inhaled again, unable to push the thought away for some reason.

At first, he wondered if he could not remove the thought because he was irritated with Guy, but then he forced himself to think further. If irritation was the surface, what lurked beneath?

Lee's eyes always tracked Guy's movements on the training field. If the man was in the air, Lee's eyes were right on his heels, watching and noticing. He noticed little things. Like the fact that when Guy sparred, he was absolutely as graceful as Daichi-sensei had ever been. Lee had not expected that when he considered how lithe the Mirror jōnin was compared to Guy's more muscular build. Lee wet his lips as he thought of Guy side-dodging Lee's blows, his hands on the ground with his fingers splayed wide for support – the muscles in his arms bulging under the thin fabric of his trademark jumpsuit. Lee noticed these small things about Guy. Things like his toned calves flying through the air. The solidity of his body connecting with Lee's own. The comforting weight whenever they ended up on the ground together. Lee's face grew hot as he realized that his former sensei was actually, well, built – for a lack of a better term.

 _I cannot think of Guy like that. He was almost like a father to me before_ , he chastised himself as he tried forcibly shoving the thought aside. Though, if he could not make the thought go away, he would need to reason his way through it. _I have only had crushes on older men, my senseis. Maybe there is something wrong with me. Maybe I cannot tell familial feelings from romantic feelings._ He recognized that it was sad that he would rather be mentally and emotional defunct than feel feelings for his childhood idol.

A frustrated growl escaped him. It would be impossible to practice chakra control now. The thoughts were rapidly overtaking any semblance he had of mental control and focus. Guy's smiling face kept dancing before his closed eyes instead of going away like it was supposed to. He tried to imagine Sakura punching each thought from his head, but even that did nothing to help. He just saw his mentor cartwheeling away from her blows.

"Mirror strike me down!" he groaned as he opened his eyes and forced himself to his feet.

Fine. If Lee could not cerebrally punch Guy from his mind, he would exercise him out. As he set off jogging, he wondered what could have triggered these feelings for Guy. It had to have been their new friendship. It had pushed them from their familiar, almost familial roles to that of near equals. Teammates, partners. Lee realized he never should have agreed to teach his mentor. Never. Because those feelings should not happen. He was never meant to feel romantically toward Guy. He was not one of those students.

 _But,_ that dastardly little part of his brain supplied, _you are not his student, are you? You are his friend. He has nothing more to teach you. That is why you taught him and now you only spar._ As much as it hurt him to admit it, his evil self was telling him the truth. He was planning his own studies and training. He was beyond needing Guy in that capacity.

 _And now you need him for other things,_ the wicked voice added so helpfully. He shouted in anger at the thought, startling a civilian woman tending her garden.

"My apologies, ma'am," he called out as he jogged past.

What was wrong with him? Maybe he was overreacting, allowing his thoughts to get the best of him. Before he went to the Mirror, how many times had he thought Neji looked very nice? People -men- were capable of thinking other people -men- looked nice, right? He could think Guy was attractive without being attracted to him – because that was not allowed to happen.

He was only overreacting.

Guy was an attractive man, and Lee was not attracted to him.

With that in mind and a new resolve, Lee pushed himself into his first set of laps around Konoha since returning.

Five hundred sounded good.


	22. Chapter 22

"I'm assigning Lee an S-rank mission."

Guy's eyes widened as he shook his head. "But Lady Tsunade, he was just given a probationary period. He isn't ready for this," he exclaimed.

He didn't like the knowing look in the Hokage's eyes as she leaned forward, her elbows now on the hard wood of her desk. "Oh Guy, I'm not sending him alone. You're going with him. His first S-rank will be a joint mission with you."

Normally that would be comforting, but her eyes… there was a look there that he disliked. "That's more agreeable, I suppose. Will I be briefed now?"

Wordlessly, she handed over the folder and allowed him a few moments to flip through its contents before speaking again. "This is Lee's mission. You are not to interfere unless absolutely necessary, understood?"

Guy felt his argument rising like bile in his throat, but he forced it back down. His words wouldn't do any good if Lady Tsunade had made up her mind. He simply folded the papers and handed them back. "If he balks?"

"Finish it."

* * *

Lee outpaced Guy in the beginning. He was hyped up, eager to be out on his first real mission since returning to the Leaf. Guy could understand that, could empathize with those feelings. But there was a nagging sense of concern that held Guy back from matching the younger shinobi's fast pace. Each leap from one tree to the next was a furlong closer to their mission. Their…mark.

He gave a sharp whistle, and Lee slowed before stopping completely to let Guy catch up.

"Lee, there's no rush to this mission. We're probably a good hour or so from our destination. Let's just set up camp down there for the night," Guy suggested, motioning toward the copse below them.

Lee looked down at the area Guy had chosen, and Guy could see he wanted to argue. But the younger man simply looked at him. "I would prefer to keep moving and end this as soon as possible, but I will defer to your more experienced judgment."

Guy watched in confusion as the boy dropped down and proceeded to set up camp. It wasn't so much his receptiveness to Guy's suggestions but the formalness he approached his former sensei with. He seemed almost…stiff with him. Which was odd since they had been so close lately. Guy could only explain it as an attempt at professionalism on his first major mission, maybe.

As they set up camp, Guy danced around the idea of talking about their mission. Lee had been briefed separately by the Hokage, and they hadn't really had time to explore the younger man's feeling about their task at hand. Guy worried for him. He remembered before he disappeared, when he was just a boy, how he feared the aspect of a shinobi's life that led them to take lives.

"Lee," Guy finally broke the silence between them as they sat in the dark and ate their rations. The boy across from him raised his eyes to meet Guy's for barely a second before dropping them back to his food. Guy wet his lips before trying again, "Lee, my youthful student, are you excited for your first S-rank?"

"Yes," Lee answered between bites, "But I am always excited for high-ranking missions. This is only my first S-rank in the Hidden Leaf." Guy gave him a look that pressed for more information, and the young man added, "My sensei in the Mirror often took us on 'seek and destroy' missions fairly often."

"You've already…" Guy began tearing up. He couldn't stop himself. "You've already made your first…" He tried not to. Kami did he try, but he couldn't stop himself from sobbing.

Lee looked around helplessly before looking at the crying man again. "If you will please stop crying, I will tell you about it," he offered.

Guy sniffled and wiped at his eyes before nodding. With a deep inhale, Lee began, "I had been in the Mirror for two years, a shinobi there for one, when the Mishūkage assigned my team our first 'seek and destroy' mission. I was upset, but Daichi-sensei reminded me that it was a necessary part of a shinobi's life. He promised me that I would never rise above the rank of genin if I did not see the mission through. I did not want everything you and I had worked toward to go to waste, so I followed my sensei's lead. I backed up my teammate. I—"

"Go on," Guy murmured encouragingly as he reached out to touch the boy's knee.

"I took these hands and I killed several men. Bandits who did not even have activated chakra coils. I-" Lee swallowed and shook his head, obviously remembering the day. "But! After we finished the mission, Aya and Daichi-sensei gave me a gift, my gusari." Lee pulled the long chain from his vest and passed it to Guy, whose tears flowed freely but silently at the boy's tale.

"Daichi-sensei is a hard man. I do not know if Aya knows how hard he is since he is the only sensei she has ever known, but there is a kindness buried in him."

Guy looked at his former student, studied his face. He could feel the embarrassment rolling off the young man and understood that he wanted Guy to know that his sensei in the other village had not been a bad man.

"A sensei can be like that," he replied to let Lee know that he understood and was not judging the man too harshly. While Guy never would have approached the situation that way, he understood many sensei would. A shinobi could never rise above the rank of genin without taking a life. Too many higher-ranking missions depended on it.

"They can. We should turn in, though. Get ready for tomorrow." Lee moved to his feet and headed for his bedroll.

* * *

"He knew we were coming!" Guy shouted as he dodged a kunai with a paper bomb attached. He glanced to the side to see Lee sparring with another clone. He barely had time to make heads or tails of the combat when he had to dodge another kunai.

"Dammit!" he exclaimed as it scraped along his cheek, leaving a bloody line in its wake.

Guy lost sight of Lee after that. Wave after wave of bladed weaponry overwhelmed Guy's senses. All he could do was dodge and search for the rogue ninja they were chasing. If he could get ahold of him, he could hold him while Lee completed his mission.

But it seemed that was not meant to be.

Guy turned to check on Lee and found a kunai buried deep within his own gut. The shinobi leered, pointed teeth glinting in the fading light. Fading. A voice came rang in the distance. A voice. Lee's voice. He pulled himself together, forced his eyes wide.

And watched as Lee opened the Second Gate.

"Blossoming Lotus!"

Lee's heel caught the man in the neck and moved through his flesh as though it were butter. The gore from his body sprayed Lee, but Lee didn't seem to notice. He shoved the corpse from him and ran to his teammate that was laying on the ground.

"Guy! Guy! Can you hear me?" he cried out as he fell to his knees and placed pressure over the wound.

Guy chuckled weakly and nodded. "I'm fine, Lee. It looks worse than it is." He held up an arm, and Lee ducked to scoop him onto his back.

"This happened because you were focusing on me," Lee scolded as he settled Guy into a better spot and set off toward their camp from the previous night. "You were worried about me, so you were not focused on our enemy."

"Lee," Guy muttered, "I've already been stabbed. Isn't that enough punishment?"

Lee looked up at him with a mix of concern and anger. "I have not decided."

Guy chuckled and squeezed Lee the best he could, appreciating the concern his former student held for him. He had to grin as Lee easily packed him back to the camp. They would do basic first aid there before heading on to the village, and then Guy could go brag to the Hokage about how easily Lee dispatched the missing-nin.

"What was that move you used?" he asked curiously, regaining his strength easily as they walked.

"I am working on adding to my Lotus jutsu with the new style," Lee explained as he jogged. "I want one for each Gate I can open. Budding and Blossoming are the only ones I have created so far."

"What comes after Blossoming?"

"Bloomed. It will be more defensive, though."

Guy smiled and shook his head. "I'm proud of you, Lee. You have always worked so hard, and now, look how far you've come."

Lee jogged for a few minutes in complete silence, which Guy felt to be comfortable. Companionable even. Certainly different from their former shouts of youth and guts and passion. However, when Lee finally spoke, Guy felt himself reel slightly at his unexpected words.

"I do not wish for you to be proud of me."


	23. Chapter 23

"Lee!"

He awoke with his student's name on his lips. His chest rose and fell in quick pants as he ran a hand through his damp hair. What had he been dreaming about? _A nightmare?_ he wondered. He could only remember flashes of skin, though. And a feeling of warmth – which quickly spread to his face as he checked inside his pants.

 _Shit._

He pushed himself out of bed, face twisted in disgust. He hadn't done that in his sleep since he was a teenager, but he had to do it now? To a dream about Lee? His Most Important Person?

His Most Important Person who was moving his lithe body beneath him…

His stomach turned at the thought. Unable to bear what he had done, he shook his head and stripped. A shower would wash it all away. The thoughts. The fragments of the dream. The stickiness coating him. Hopefully even the shame. Maybe he would never have to think of it again.

As Guy showered, he thought of Lee. Well, he tried to force the dream from his head by thinking of their mission together. It had been two days since they had returned and earned their time off. Two days since Guy had even laid eyes on Lee. He wondered what was keeping the younger shinobi away – and what his parting words had meant.

 _Admire me, Guy._

Guy rinsed the shampoo from his hair as he pondered the request. It had to be related to his words on their way to camp; Lee didn't want him to be proud of him anymore. He wanted Guy to admire him.

"What's the difference anyway?" Guy demanded from his loofah. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to know either. So Guy stepped from the shower and dressed. He would just have to continue pondering later – after his morning exercises and the team training that Lee would undoubtedly skip.

"He does still have another day off, and I'm glad he's taking them," Guy told himself. He wanted to believe that he wanted Lee to enjoy a short break, that he was glad for the chance to rest himself, but the nagging in the back of his head told him that he was a liar.

A sense of remembering filled him for a moment. Just remembering his dream – or maybe his life. The feeling of Lee's muscles beneath him – as they had been countless times. Oh, but this was different. His stomach rolled at the thought. He shook his head, trying to shake the feeling as well.

"If I think of that again, I'll do ten thousand pushups," he promised his houseplant by the door before heading out. For that was not the type of admiration he believed Lee to be looking for. Nor was it the type of admiration he wanted to give.

He ran through his own morning routine before he made his way to the training field - where he was pleasantly surprised to find all three of his charges hard at work with their own individual skills. Tenten was practicing with her new Summon, having finally found one that would forge a contract with her. Neji was using his Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven…for some reason. Guy looked to see if he was maybe practicing protecting his blind spot and was entirely shocked to find that Lee was studying his teammate instead.

"That is very fast, Neji. Do you think I could match it?" Lee asked, his pencil posed over his once-omnipresent notebook. Guy was almost relieved to see it back out; though, he wasn't sure why it would matter if Lee was studying and taking notes.

He shook his head to clear his mind of his jumbled thoughts and watched as Neji slowed to a stop and studied Lee in return. "With the Gate of Life?"

Lee nodded, and Neji seemed to weigh their abilities. "Perhaps," he finally conceded, "The Fourth Gate would assist you more in your speed, though."

As Lee jotted something down, Neji pointed to the notepad and added, "Before attempting it, remove your weights if you can. That may even out the effects."

Guy positively beamed as he walked over and wrapped an arm around Neji's shoulder. "Look at you two! You've finally mastered the friendly rivalry! Neji, you're no longer too cool to help a teammate on the training field, and Lee! Lee, you've tempered your youthful passions into a steely strength! I AM SO PRO-ud of you both…"

Guy caught the words slipping from his mouth at the end and quickly glanced at Lee. His reaction was nearly unnoticeable, were Guy's eyes not the sharpened eyes of a seasoned shinobi. He saw the corners narrow fractionally while the edges of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. To cover his mistake, he coughed and then turned to Tenten. "And you, Tenten, you've finally forged a contract! Another step closer to becoming a Legendary Kunoichi!"

"Hopefully, we'll be an even better team than Lady Tsunade and Lady Katasuyu, right Mangūsu?" Tenten asked her new Summon. The large red rodent, a young cousin to Kamatari, grinned and swirled his scythe in time with Tenten in what Guy believed to be a confirmation of the girl's statement.

He gave an encouraging thumbs-up and Nice Guy™ stance to the pair before turning his attention back to the pair that had resumed their training. Lee had opened at least two Gates in an attempt to breach Neji's Revolving Heaven, an act that mere weeks before would have sent Guy into a tizzy. But knowing all he did now, Guy could sit back and relax without fearing for either's safety.

Neji's form was certainly as good as ever, Guy decided as he watched blow after blow be deflected by the revolving Hyuga. And Lee was getting closer with his aim; Neji's blind spot had nearly been hit more than once. Few if any of his hits were actually finding their way home, though. He watched as Lee was flung backwards more than once from the force of his blocked blows. How he could fly through the air so gracefully, Guy would never know. He watched the younger man's firm calf come down hard, his heel meeting the Hyuga's shield. Lee flew backwards into the air but used the momentum to lean into a backflip that landed him safely away. The morning sun caught on the sweat beading on his face, giving him a beautiful glow. Shaking his head, he grinned at Guy.

Guy blinked and wiped at his lips, surprised to find moisture collected there. He barely had time to return Lee's smile and had no time at all to offer a thumbs-up. But it seemed Lee didn't mind.

 _Admire me._

Was this what Lee had in mind after all? Did he want his former sensei to sit and drool over him? Guy was inclined to say no, and not just because it was slightly demeaning to both of them. He was a jōnin, after all, and Lee – Lee wasn't a piece of meat to be ogled at in the market.

But what could he have meant? Being proud of him and admiring him was the same thing, wasn't it?

As he looked between the three members of Team Guy, he was inclined to disagree again. Tenten with Mangūsu made him feel an intense swell of pride. She had come so far from being that little academy graduate who wanted to be like Lady Tsunade to this formidable young Weapons Mistress before him. And so had Lee. Lee had come the farthest, he believed. Here was this kid with no ninjutsu or genjutsu and only below average taijutsu, and now when Guy looked at him, he barely recognized him. Barely saw that little kid who only ever wanted Guy's praise.

Guy ran a rough hand over the lower half of his face. There was a difference. He could feel it, but he couldn't explain the separation between his pride in Tenten and his feelings about Lee's progress.

It was almost as though Tenten and Neji were his own children. He felt – not necessarily that their actions were a reflection of him or that he was over them – but a little like he was, in fact, over them. These were his students. Lee had also been his student, but it was different. Maybe it had been all along. But now, especially now, he could look at Lee and see this young man who was his comrade. He was to him as Izumo or Kotetsu were – maybe more. He cared for him deeply and – and he admired him.

Guy looked on in amazement as he realized he had teased out the answer. Lee was his equal now, in Guy's head anyway. He shouldn't be proud of him because pride implied that he was looking down on him. Admiring him proved that they were on the same level.

 _And Lee knows that,_ Guy thought affectionately. _He sees us as equals as well._ With that realization, the uncomfortable ball that had been sitting in Guy's chest since he woke just dissipated. It was as though all of the discomfort and guilt he felt for finding Lee attractive was gone. He was absolved. He could find Lee attractive. He could care for him more deeply than he had ever cared for anyone else, and it was okay!

He could tell Lee!

He could tell Lee…

 _Should I tell Lee?_


	24. Chapter 24

The Blackberry Winter, that's what they called it. The weather experts were certain an abnormal wave of frigid temperatures was going to settle in the Leaf even though it was summertime. Guy had decided that the only way to enjoy the last of the warm weather for a while was to spend it training and then reflecting by the memorial pool.

With his training for the day completed, he made his way to the reflecting pool. It had become part of him. Even when home, he would imagine himself poolside in his mind's eye. Visualizing, Kakashi would call it. He visualized himself watching the koi as he meditated on those issues that might irritate or frustrate him. And it worked. It really worked.

So now, while it was warm, he would relish the chance to sit cross-legged and watch the fish swim beneath the lotuses. He smiled as he released the tension that he hadn't realized he was holding in his shoulders. The koi flashed beneath the water, and the lotuses, they were fully bloomed. They were beautiful.

He sighed and thought about why he needed to reflect: Lee. They were going to dinner in just a few hours, and damn it all if Guy wasn't going to put it all on the line. He was going to risk rejection and Lee's scorn in hopes that Lee felt the same.

Weeks – that was how long Guy had been sitting on his realization that he wanted Lee for his own. More than anything, he wanted Lee to know the depth of what he felt for him. His guilt over feeling these things for a former student and fears that he would be taking advantage of Lee – these were all dealt with.

Lee was a grown man and a strong shinobi. It didn't matter that it occurred so quickly for Guy; Lee had taken the time to mature and grow in his abilities. He had become his own person away from his village, and now he was a man that Guy wanted to be with. That Guy hoped wanted to be with him as well.

All he could do, though, was hope.

* * *

The high collar of Lee's coat accentuated his strong jawline and sharp cheekbones. Guy felt the sudden urge to run his tongue along those taut ridges, but he couldn't. Instead, he followed Lee into the restaurant, his eyes trained on the firm muscles before him.

He hadn't necessarily given himself over entirely to the idea of Lee's physicality being something he could sexualize, but he was having a harder and harder time keeping himself from looking at Lee in that way. He needed to stop, though. Lee was not something to objectify, despite being in peak physical form.

Oh, he just hoped Lee wouldn't reject him. Or change their relationship for the worse.

These thoughts plagued Guy throughout the entire dinner. He worried that he was putting Lee off with his nervous energy, but nothing seemed to faze the young man across from him as they ate. It was actually a really nice dinner despite Guy's nerves.

Lee told him all about the Bloomed Lotus. It was impressive, from what Guy was hearing. Lee used his feet to recreate Neji's Revolving Heaven. With the strength of the first Three Gates, Lee was able to create a complete force field, complete without a blind spot. If he could progress that far with just the first three, Guy didn't know what jutsu the Fourth Gate would open for him.

But what impressed him the most was the lack of bragging. Lee was so caught up in the logistics that he wasn't the least conceited about the creation of a new jutsu. Not that Guy thought Lee had ever been arrogant. But he loved to hear Lee talk about all that Neji brought to the table and how hard they had both worked to make this work. He loved to hear everything Lee was thinking and working on.

"I admire your work ethic," Guy finally said and was rewarded with a soft blush. He had figured out the difference, and now he understood what Lee wanted.

The rest of dinner passed in a similar manner. Lee talking, and Guy commenting. It was nice. Pleasant. Almost like a show of what they could have in the future. Not that it had to end if Lee said no. Guy had to keep reminding himself of that.

But Guy was getting antsy. He couldn't wait much longer. Patience was a virtue that he had not been graced with. He wet his lips and glanced around, trying to find either an exit or an opening.

"Is something wrong, Guy?"

The opening presented itself.

"Guy," he repeated back to the younger man. "Not Guy-sensei?" He hadn't brought this up since he noticed Lee dropping the honorific, but it fit into what he wanted to say.

Though, he didn't count on Lee looking so embarrassed or him mumbling, "You are not my sensei anymore."

His words didn't sting because while it may have been slightly untrue in the eyes of the village, it was true in their relationship. He was glad to see Lee felt the same. So glad in fact that he smiled and shook his head before agreeing, "No, you've certainly outgrown me."

"It is nice to have you as a friend instead of a sensei," Lee said suddenly.

Guy pressed his lips together tightly, tempted to go straight for his target. But instead he inhaled deeply and smiled. "I enjoy having you as a friend too, Lee. You're such a wonderful shinobi and an even better man. That's why…"

"That is why what?" Lee pressed when Guy trailed off.

"What I'm about to say – it doesn't have to change anything. If you don't want our friendship to change, just tell me, okay?" When Lee nodded, Guy continued, "I love you, Lee. I – I also find you very attractive, physically and mentally."

Lee's expression, through what Guy believed must have been a herculean effort, never revealed any sort of shock or disgust. It was more than Guy had hoped for. He couldn't believe that Lee had not rejected him outright.

Instead, the young man scratched at his cheek like he might have been collecting his thoughts before replying slowly, "I love you too, Guy. But only as a dear friend. Like you said, though, this does not have to change anything between us."

Despite the sensation of his heart cracking slightly, Guy stood and held Lee's coat open for him to step into. "You're right. This doesn't have to change anything. Will I see you on the training ground in the morning?"

Lee nodded as he stood and slipped into his coat. Guy watched his expression closely as his eyes flicked downward and then his tongue swiped slowly over his lower lip. It was a brief expression, barely a spark, but Guy could see the hunger behind it.

"What was that look?"

Lee furrowed his brows. "What look?"

Guy motioned up and down Lee's body. "You just looked at me like –" He shook his head, uncertain how to categorize the expression. "It was sexual!"

Lee shook his head and looked away. "Impossible."

"You find me attractive!" Guy accused, and when Lee nodded, he demanded, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

His smile was the same as he echoed the words from that night months ago. "Still the same old Guy-sensei," he murmured almost affectionately before shaking his head. "You cannot always run headfirst into a situation about which you know next to nothing."

"I told you that you could always talk to me. That meant about anything."

Guy watched as the younger man shook his head once more. "No, Guy, it did not. We are not doing this." His tone was still gentle, but he heard a firmness lying beneath the affection. A stone's edge that made Guy want to take his former student into his arms – and just throttle him. But he knew he couldn't; Lee had learned it from him.

"If we both want each other, then we can be together," he insisted. "There's nothing stopping us."

Lee shook his head and led him out the door. "Guy, I appreciate how you feel, and maybe I could feel the same—"

"Maybe you do," Guy interjected.

Lee laughed, suddenly turning to press his hand to Guy's chest. The solid body came to halt beneath the hand, and Lee shook his head. "Guy, no matter how I feel, I do not want to go down that path. Promise me that this will not affect our friendship."

Guy dragged in a large breath and finally nodded.

"I promise."

* * *

 **A.N./ What's happening with our boys? Also, I'm sorry I've been so off-schedule. I just graduated with my bachelors!**


	25. Chapter 25

Lee awoke the next morning to a lotus on his doorstep despite Guy's promise that nothing would change. Or maybe because of it. He gently cradled the flower in his hands as he took it back into his apartment. The petals had browned and curled in the unseasonal cold, but nevertheless, he tenderly laid it in the middle of his table. A soft smile tugged at his lips as the gesture threatened to touch his heart.

Was Guy being persistent? Or was he telling Lee that last night changed nothing?

Lee leaned toward the latter. Guy was an honorable man; Lee knew he would not push the matter as he was bound to his word. But... The younger man stroked one curled petal and shook his head. Nothing was going to change, which would probably be hard for them both. After all, they had both fallen for each other with their relationship how it was currently.

"I would not change it for the world, though," Lee assured himself as he started back out the door. He had been on his way to see the Hokage for he had discovered her summons on his door when he returned the night before. He hoped that she would assign him a solo mission or perhaps a full team mission - with his own team or another. Something to distract his thoughts from his former sensei.

His former sensei.

He shook his head. This was becoming a bad habit for him, or maybe the beginning of a pattern. Either way, he needed to break from it. Now it was Guy, but before, it had been Daichi-sensei. Lee tried to imagine telling the HoShann operative that he was wildly attracted to him, but it was impossible to visualize. It would have gone over like Naruto's Sexy Jutsu in front of Lady Tsunade.

What would Aya have said about last night? Lee felt a pang as he imagined himself closing the front door to their shared apartment and leaning against it. She would have been sitting at the kitchen table directly across from the door, her crimson eyes shining. Her eagerness and anticipation would have been palpable. _So!?_ she would have demanded _How did it go? Was it just a dinner? Was your team there?_

Lee would have shaken his head. He could feel the grin threatening to overtake his face at the thought of them sitting and analyzing the dinner. She would have beaten him black and blue for turning Guy down – and would have done it while demanding to know WHY.

Why?

Lee did not even know why. It was not as though he was holding out for someone better. Guy was the only person in that dimension he found himself attracted to. But why did it have to keep being his senseis!?

Aya's voice ran in his head again. He knew the lines along which her response would run: _Maybe you just keep getting placed under attractive men._ Then she would make a lewd suggestion playing off him being placed under attractive men.

Mirror, he missed her!

She - and the Mirror (but were they not interchangeable at that point?) - they were always there. Always pulsing just beneath his skin, like insects burrowed into his body.

He rubbed his marred palm as he considered that he was a living vessel of Mirror knowledge in this dimension. Lady Tsunade and the scholars who had studied the temple might have known some things, but Lee knew that his knowledge was the most complete.

Or incomplete.

A singular thought had been niggling, unacknowledged, at the back of his mind since his return: his disappearance. He had made it through the Mirror – not of his own accord, of course – but he had still ended up in the Village Hidden behind the Mirror. If he wanted, he might make it through again. Whoever had gone through the Mirror with him, those two shinobi, they had known how to get through; Lee could figure out what they had done.

Those two shinobi…

His gut twisted as he broke out in a cold sweat. Those missing-nin had made it into the Mirror, too. They had almost slipped his mind entirely. He doubled his pace toward the Hokage's office as he truly considered the implications for the first time. If they had not been working alone, if they had shared their plans before disappearing, then other rogue shinobi could know how to access the Mirror. Aya was not safe! Daichi-sensei and Tsung-sensei! The Mishūkage! No one was safe.

"Lady Tsunade!" he cried as he burst through the door. The Hokage raised her eyes from the paperwork before her, mouth already open to form a chastisement, but the words poured too quickly from Lee's mouth. "The Mirror, it might be compromised. Please, Lady Tsunade, send me to go check!"

The older woman sat back in her chair and crossed her arms in an expression that did not bode well for Lee. "What makes you say that?"

He fought the panic rising like bile in his chest. "When I went through," he started, the words as disjointed as his thoughts, "There were two other men. Missing-nin. They made it through, and HoShann killed them. We – I – no one mentioned them again. Lady Tsunade, what if they were not alone? What if there are others? They might know how to get through. The Mirror needs us! Please, send me to check on the temple!"

"Lee," Tsunade began, "Even if the missing-nin knew how to get into the Mirror, we don't know why they want to. I summoned you here for a reason. I'll send an ANBU to go check, but I need you for another task." When he opened his mouth to protest, she held up her hand, "No. This is the best answer you'll get from me. Don't try my patience."

After he closed his mouth, she continued, "Tomorrow, you will begin work with a shinobi from the Intelligence Division to create a comprehensive encyclopedia on your knowledge of the Village Hidden behind the Mirror. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Lady Hokage."

As he left her office, she called after him, "And do not leave the village!"

He could not wait until Lady Tsunade was ready to send an ANBU to check on the temple; _he_ had to go – and soon. Now even, if he could slip out. Every second spent in the Leaf was wasted, especially if the Mirror was in danger. But the Hokage had specifically forbidden him from going.

Without stopping at his apartment, he set off for the southern gate, sticking to the shadows. A single glance around the temple and he would come straight back. If he was quick enough, no one would even have to know that he had left. He just could not trust anyone else's word on the situation, and he could not risk something being wrong and him not being there to protect his other home.

The gate loomed just ahead. Lee wet his lips as he looked back at the village. The corner of his mouth twitched while his brow crinkled in fear-tinged nostalgia. What was it that Team Kakashi often said? Something along the lines of 'those who break the rules were scum, but those who abandon their comrades were worse than scum'. He just hoped that the Leaf could understand who all his comrades were as he set off through the gate.


	26. Chapter 26

Lee never made it to the training field that morning. He had told Guy the night before that he would be there, but that had been before Guy had accused him of also being interested in a relationship. It had also been before Guy had left the lotus on the younger man's doorstep. Maybe Lee had thought that it was Guy's way of saying that he intended to continue pursuing the matter. Of course, he hadn't meant it that way at all, and Lee may not have taken it as such; Guy couldn't be certain, but it worried him to think that his gesture might have made Lee so uncomfortable that he had skipped training.

Neither Tenten nor Neji had commented on Lee's absence, though. Without either of them wondering where their teammate was, he couldn't justify skipping training himself to find the younger man. So, he had thought that it was business as usual for the trio. However, he wondered if maybe his team knew his head wasn't in their training because the other two wheedled him to end practice early, claiming that they were supposed to meet some of their classmates for lunch.

The sun was shining steadily down on his back as Guy jogged over to Lee's apartment. The lotus was gone from the doorstep, so Lee had certainly left his apartment – or at least been to the door. There went any chance that it wasn't the flower. Guy ran a rough hand over his face before bringing his knuckles down against the wood once. Twice. He hesitated before adding a third knock. Nothing stirred behind the door.

Maybe Lee intended to meet his classmates for lunch as well. Guy decided that he would just make a quick pass around the town, just a couple laps. For exercise. He certainly was not trying to find Rock Lee. If Lee wanted space after last night, Guy didn't care to give it to him. In fact, the young man was entitled to his space.

But it would be nice to know that all was well between them.

"Guy," a voice called after him during his second pass through the village. He looked up to see Genma and Asuma sitting inside one of the smaller restaurants. Genma waved him over with an empty skewer. "Come have some dumplings with us!"

Guy hesitated. While he wasn't actually training and he certainly wasn't searching for Lee, he felt he probably needed to make another lap. But he also couldn't make it seem like anything was wrong. He could already feel his former teammate's shrewd eyes upon him.

So he grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Even the youthful need a break."

Genma shifted so Guy could sink down beside him. The three jōnin fell into easy conversation as they ate, and Guy felt himself relaxing. Maybe his students were right about lunch with their peers. It eased the discomfort he felt over his precarious situation with Lee. But all too soon the unease returned.

He tried to pinpoint what had shifted to cause the serious air that had suddenly enveloped the trio. Perhaps it was in the way Genma had straightened. Or the slight movement of Asuma to face Guy better. He felt he might have been reading too much into the situation because the conversation had never even lulled.

"So has the Hokage finally started giving your team individual missions?" Genma was asking casually as he picked at his teeth with his senbon. However, the sideways look Asuma slid toward the other jōnin told Guy that his former teammate's question was anything but casual.

"No, Lady Tsunade hasn't begun to truly appreciate the power of youth," Guy blustered with one of his beaming smiles. "Yet!" The other two shared a look, and Guy hoped that they wouldn't see through him.

"Rock Lee seems to have been given an important mission, from what I've heard," Asuma threw out coolly.

Guy nearly choked on his dumpling. Genma thumped him on the back. Tears streaming down his face, he turned on the Sarutobi. "What do you mean?" he demanded.

"Easy, Guy. I was just making conversation. Izumo and Kotetsu saw him leave early this morning."

Smoke from Asuma's cigarette curled between the two shinobi as a moment, then two, passed. Guy's mind raced. Lady Tsunade had in fact planned to give Lee a solo mission; Guy knew this. He had been given a heads-up before Lee received his summons. But Guy also knew that the mission was to be completed within the village – and that it wasn't scheduled to start until the next day.

Lee wasn't on a mission. He had left.

Guy swallowed the hard pit in his throat and stood. "Excuse me," he said stiffly before setting off toward Hokage tower.

Lee had left.

He had caused this.

There was no other explanation. He had forced his feelings on Lee, and now Lee was gone. He had driven his Most Important Person away with his advances. His throat threatened to close at the thought.

He needed to tell Lady Tsunade.

The Sannin looked up Guy's panicked face and sighed. "That took longer than I expected."

"Lady Tsunade, Lee—"

She held up a hand to silence him. "Has left the village. I'm aware. Those at the gates reported it this morning."

"I'm to blame."

She snorted and shook her head before standing. She turned her back to Guy as she looked out over the village. "You can't control his behavior. He's like Naruto. Once he gets an idea in his head, not even locking him in a cell would stop him."

Guy looked at her dumfounded as she faced him once more. "Of course, he still disobeyed a direct order from his Hokage. He may not be a missing-nin, but he's still in trouble when he gets back."

"Where did he go?" Guy finally asked once he found his voice.

Tsunade raised her brows in disbelief. "You didn't know? He's returned to the temple. He believes that the Village Hidden behind the Mirror is in danger."

The floor shifted beneath him. Lee was returning to the Mirror?

"What should I do?" he heard himself ask.

Tsunade shook her head. "Nothing. If he is going to disobey, he's going to do it alone. I told the fool I'd send ANBU to check…" She shook her head again. "When he finds nothing, he'll come back. Until then, proceed as usual."

Guy felt an uncomfortable pit growing in his stomach. Leave Lee to check on the Mirror alone? What if he was right in thinking that something was wrong? Guy needed to go, to be there to assist if Lee needed.

The Hokage seemed to follow his thoughts. "Guy, do _not_ leave the village. Lee won't find anything. If something was wrong, the nearby village would have sent someone."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," he acquiesced, bowing his head to the order. He knew he should just trust in his kage. Lee would be alright. He had to be.

Guy hoped he was.


	27. Chapter 27

As the sun slowly made its way from one side of the sky to the other, Lee realized that he would be hard pressed to return to the Leaf before anyone realized he was gone. Already Guy would probably wonder why he was not at morning training, even though he had said he would be. The thought of worrying the older shinobi made his stomach twist, but he could not help it.

He was nearing the village now, anyway. Wringing his hands with guilt would do no good when he just needed to see the village and temple in order to be confident that the Mirror was safe. Lee decided that he would talk to the gate guards, an acolyte or two, and then he would just go see the altar. If nothing seemed amiss, he would gladly return to Konoha.

The gates emerged from the trees, and Lee dropped to the ground, prepared to greet the guards. However, as he drew nearer, his body slowed while his heart sped. The gates were scorched. He raised his nose to the air and gave a tentative sniff.

Death.

Right then, the voice inside him said, _Turn around. Go tell Lady Tsunade_. But he could not; this was the village that protected the temple. He was charged with protecting them, too.

His heart dropped to his feet as he shoved through the destroyed wood. Even in his worst thoughts, he never could have prepared himself for the sight that greeted him. The peaceful village that Neji had once led Team Guy through had been reduced to rubble.

"Did anyone survive this?" he quailed, walking deeper into the waste. His stomach heaved well before he reached the first corpse; his tongue had thickened with the sweet stench of decay, but he could not bring himself to turn back. Forcing himself onward, he turned the corner.

Then there, lying between the remains of two houses, was the first corpse. Surrounding it were several shuriken and a number of dark stains that must have once been its own blood. Lee's eyes watered from the foul odor as he neared it. He could hardly tell that it was once a human, let alone what gender it may have been. Too much time had passed, and the animals had not been kind. Gaping holes spread across its face where its eyes had been. The soft tissue of the cheeks had been ravaged. He leaned closer, hoping to tell by the hair or facial structure whether it was someone he had met, but his eyes were drawn downward to the torso. The clothing was askew, and writhing in the soft tissue of the stomach –

Lee turned from the remains and tossed the contents of his stomach onto the grass. The maggots crawled behind his own eyes. He did not think he would ever fully erase the image.

From that moment, he counted the corpses from a distance.

Each half-hidden body brought a fresh wave of despair into his heart. _How could this have happened? Why?_ he despaired. As far as Lee remembered, there had not even been shinobi in this village. They had been slaughtered. Massacred. Civilians. Women and children. He counted nearly seventy scattered throughout the village, without digging into the rubble for the rest.

He would never un-see this.

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he turned his back on the ruins. There was nothing he could do for them now. But maybe he could still do something for the Mirror. He hoped he could. He did not know if he could bear the pain in his chest if he found a similar scene in the temple.

The thought of looking down into Aya's lifeless crimson eyes was too much for him. He stopped in the trees outside the temple and gripped the stretchy fabric over his chest. The clearing blurred as his tears fell freely. He wondered if the feeling in his chest was similar to a heart attack; it hurt so badly, as though he could die from a thought alone.

But he could not. He needed to push onward, he reminded himself. Wiping at his eyes, he dragged in a ragged breath and jumped to the ground. To avoid the maze-like corridors, he entered the temple from the back and found himself in the altar room. As he crossed the threshold, he fought a chill that rolled down his spine. Cold. Wet and wrong. That was how the room felt to him immediately. Wrong. Empty. Lifeless. His eyes fell on the gaping hole in the layout of the room, and he sagged against the wall, clinging to the cool stone for support.

The altar was gone.

His mind spun wildly. His connection to the Mirror was gone. He could not return. He could not save them. He had lost his family again.

The altar was gone.

He wandered numbly through the stone halls and out the front – where his world quickly turned sideways. The explosion caught Lee off-guard and sent him sailing through the air. One moment he was walking from the temple, and the next he was airborne. His very bones rattled even before he hit the hard ground. Stunned, he tried to force himself to his feet, but the blast had jarred something in him. He shook his head, trying to force his eyes and ears to cooperate. Shuriken rained down on him as he tried to stumble to cover.

Lee tried to gather his wits as he felt the enemies' Presence bearing down on him. He knew he needed to move, needed to locate the enemy and protect himself. But he was barely out of reach of the hail of shuriken, and he knew the enemy's jutsu would soon follow. He could almost make out a rogue shinobi casually strolling toward him, a mass of black in his afflicted eyes.

But just as suddenly as the explosion came an incomprehensible shout that echoed in Lee's ringing ears as a blur flew past him. His attacker fell to the ground underneath the newcomer. Lee's senses finally came back together, and he processed what he had heard:

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

* * *

 **A.N./ This chapter is dedicated to Dobbiehasnomastr. Thank you so much for all your reviews! It's been so great to see all your thoughts on my story :D**


	28. Chapter 28

It had eaten at Guy, the worry that Lee could be in real trouble. Lady Tsunade had sworn that the younger shinobi wouldn't run into any trouble and would immediately return, but as the day had worn on to early evening, the stone in Guy's gut had grown heavier.

"He should have been back by now," Guy had muttered to Kakashi as they patrolled the village. When the silver-haired jōnin raised a brow at him, he had been quick to add, "You would go if it was one of your students."

"My little genin still need me," Kakashi had replied with a casual shrug of one shoulder.

Kakashi had known exactly what he was saying, Guy was convinced. If Lee still needed Guy like a genin needs their sensei, then he hadn't really changed. And if he hadn't changed, then everything Guy felt for him would be wrong… Guy had narrowed his eyes at his Eternal Rival as they walked and wondered, not for the first time, if he could see more than he let on.

Several moments had passed before he finally murmured, "I would go if it was you too." Kakashi had slowed, looking nonplussed, but after a beat, he had grabbed Guy's arm. Before he could even protest, the other shinobi had pulled him into an alleyway.

"I'll cover for you as long as I can, Guy," Kakashi had told him very seriously while creating a single clone that he quickly disguised as Guy. Guy had stepped back to appraise his best friend and the shadow clone, an exact copy of himself.

Two senior jōnin disobeying their Hokage.

Guy couldn't verbalize how much it meant to him, so he had squeezed Kakashi's shoulder. "Thank you, Kakashi. I'll be quick," he had promised before jumping to the rooftops above them.

He had heard himself say from the alley below, "You better be."

Guy had allowed the Leaf to become a shrinking valley behind him as he rushed through the forest toward the temple. The temple had become so integral to his story that he was almost afraid of what he might find when he arrived. There he had lost Lee for six months. Now he was actively turning his back on his orders. Oh, he didn't know whether to hope Lee was right or wrong about the danger. One would see Lee punished, but the other would see him in danger. Both might draw him back to the Mirror.

But he didn't have long to debate which he wished.

The blast was large enough to see from a distance. Guy's stomach turned with dread. He leapt faster, pushing himself to arrive at the temple before things became any worse. All he could get himself to think was i _is Lee okay?_ /i The temple could burn for all he cared, but Lee…

Lee.

A blonde rogue-nin was bearing down on Lee who had obviously been caught in the explosion. In a moment, the foe would be on the stunned Leaf shinobi. Guy gritted his teeth and launched himself from the upper boughs of the tree he was perched in.

"Dynamic Entry!" he shouted as his foot made contact with the enemy's face. The shinobi's head snapped back; then the body followed, sending the blonde flying backwards. Still, though, shuriken rained down on the scene. Guy raised his eyes to the trees where the attack seemed to be coming from and briefly considered continuing his assault. But for the moment, he knew it had to wait. He was needed elsewhere.

"Lee," he breathed as he rushed to the younger man's side, pulling him close, "Are you alright?"

Lee nodded before running his hands down his face. "Please give me a minute, and I will be fine," he promised. Guy nodded and turned his eyes back to the trees. The enemy hadn't moved toward them yet. Were they also trying to decide how to proceed?

"Do you know how many there are?" Guy asked after giving Lee time to collect himself.

Lee shook his head and guessed, "At least two, but probably more."

Guy agreed that there was most likely more than two, but how many more was the question. He disliked that they weren't making a move; they had to be sizing him up. The one he had kicked was sitting up now, rubbing his jaw. So he wasn't out of commission then.

"Are you in any condition to fight?" he asked tersely.

"Hai."

He helped Lee to his feet and made sure that he was steady. They really needed to make a run for the Leaf, but as his eyes slid from tree to tree, Guy had a feeling that their opponents wouldn't allow that.

"We need to know how many there are."

Without a word, Lee launched himself into the tree above them and threw several kunai with explosive tags. Three blurs leapt to other trees right before the explosions. _So there are four of them,_ Guy thought as he watched them disappear back into the forest. _Why are they staying concealed, though?_

The blonde before them was on his feet again, brushing his pants off with a scowl. "C'mon!" he called to them, "Come die like the others!"

Lee muttered angrily above him. Guy looked between his dearest person and the enemy-nin before them, knowing the words were meant to get a rise from him.

"Lee, leave him to me," he called up. As an afterthought, he added, "Watch my back, yeah?"

Without waiting for Lee to answer, Guy sprang from beneath the trees. His kunai clashed with the blonde's; sparks flew as they came at each other again and again. A white ball flew at Guy who instinctively high kicked it into the air. The explosion sent leaves and small branches crashing down around them.

Guy allowed his eyes to flicker upward. Just to check on Lee. But his attention was ripped back to his opponent when the other man's blade glanced his cheek. He lightly touched the wound, his fingers coming away wet. Growling, he launched himself back into the fray. The blonde would not gain the upper hand, he decided as he opened the Second Gate.

As he deflected more of the enemy's explosives, the sound of another fight reached him. He glanced over to see Lee fighting two other shinobi. Lee had already opened the Second Gate, and it looked like one of the men was about to fall to the Blossoming Lotus.

But Guy's fight wasn't going so well. Guy groaned as his foe took to the air on a large bird and a second man jumped into the battle. These things never could be easy, could they? He had an idea, though. Clearing his throat, he drew himself to full height before calling to his new opponent, "You plan to face the Green Beast of Konoha in the springtime of his youth? Withdraw before you're hurt."

The man snorted and threw himself at Guy, flames spitting from his mouth. Guy relied on his enhanced speed to weave through the hot tendrils. The pair traded blows; Guy found himself almost in a hard place as the other shinobi continued to match him. But stamina was not on the rogue-nin's side. Guy began to overpower him with lightning-fast punches. He could feel the tide turning in his favor.

And then the world moved. Guy found himself flat on his back with pieces of his opponent decorating his jumpsuit. He groaned and pushed himself to sit up. The other shinobi, the blonde, had dropped an explosive. He had killed his own teammate. Guy's blood ran cold. He needed to get Lee, and they needed to go – before they were truly hurt.

He began to rise to his feet only to collapse with a pained groan. Tenderly he touched his shin and hissed. Broken. He opened his mouth to call to Lee, but the younger man was still locked in a deadly battle with the other two shinobi. And the blonde was circling overhead.

One of the foes broke away from the fight with Lee to lope toward Guy. Guy grimaced as he pulled himself to his feet, leaning on a tree for support. If the shinobi thought he was going down without a fight, he was about to be dead wrong.

The enemy feinted, and Guy pushed himself off the tree to dodge. The movement caused the fracture in his shin to shift. His leg gave as he fell downward, but he managed to roll out of the path of a heavy blow from the man's tantō.

However, too late Guy realized the move was a feint as well. The man pulled his blade back at the last moment and caught Guy across the top of the thigh in a backward slash. A surprised shout escaped him as his hands immediately pressed against his wound.

"Guy!"

Watching from between his opponent's legs, Guy saw Lee come at his attacker with the Blossoming Lotus. His heel came down hard and swept right through the man. He was dead before he hit the ground. But the airborne shinobi wasn't going to stand for that. White balls began to rain down around them. Guy rolled onto his side, back to the balls, as he curled inward. The explosions rocked his body and sent the man behind him sprawling over him. Seizing the opportunity, Guy crawled forward and sank a kunai deep into the man's throat.

They were down to the last foe.

Guy rolled to appraise the situation. Lee was barely on his feet; Guy could see him swaying and knew that this had already been a hard-fought battle for them both. The blood was still flowing from the deep wound on his thigh, and there was still one more enemy shinobi to deal with. Guy squinted against the setting sun. The bird made a lazy circle and started toward him once again. However, a roar of anger erupted from Lee as he held palm out; his other hand gripped his wrist to steady. A mark glowed on his palm, visible through the wraps. Guy could hardly believe his eyes as a creature ripped itself through the boy's skin and gauze.

It looked like a demon!

* * *

 _ **A.N./ This chapter is dedicated to Rambler the GaiLee Lover! Thank you for your review :)**_


	29. Chapter 29

In his peripheral vision, Guy saw Lee sink to the ground clutching his hand, but he couldn't tear his eyes from the small beast. It was like nothing he had ever seen – humanoid with too many arms. Too mottled to see its features. _That was inside Lee?_ he thought, fighting a wave of revulsion.

He tore his eyes away to look at Lee, uncertain if this creature's appearance was an enemy jutsu or something that the younger man had intended. It had to have been Lee's doing because the genin raised a shaky hand to point at the bird that was circling nearer, and the demon launched itself into the air. The bird tried to avoid the creature, but it shot an arm out. Guy watched as the arm extended unnaturally until it gripped the bird's chest; the creature swung itself onto the man's back. Then all three were plummeting. From that distance, Guy couldn't tell if the bird was trying to cause the demon to fall or if the demon was already taking control of the situation.

"Are you okay?"

Guy shifted to look up at Lee, who was barely keeping himself upright. He took in his tattered clothes, blistered palm, and varied wounds. Once again, he realized how hard their fight had been. Was. It wasn't over yet.

He nodded before pointing to the bird that was about to hit the ground. "Get ready."

The crash was much larger than he had anticipated. The resulting cloud of debris made his eyes water, but nevertheless, he brought his kunai up and waited. The moments dragged by as the dust slowly settled. Until finally, he was able to see Lee standing near the crumpled bird.

Their eyes locked, and Lee shook his head.

The rogue-nin and the demon were nowhere to be seen. The fight was over, but their enemy had escaped. Lee staggered back over to Guy, fire in his eyes.

"We have to follow him!"

Guy looked disbelievingly at him before finally exclaiming, "Lee, you can barely stand! I can't walk either—

"But he knows where they took it!" Lee cut in.

"Lee, neither of us are in any shape to follow! We'll exhausted ourselves to the point of no return before we even catch up to him. Please, be reasonable!"

Lee ran a hand over his face, and Guy could see that he knew they were both at their limit. After a moment, he spoke more calmly, "Are you wounded, Guy?"

Guy nodded and hissed as he slowly removed his hands from the slash to his thigh. Blood still seeped from the wound. Lee's eyes widened as he dropped to his knees beside Guy.

"I had not realized; I did not see," he murmured apologetically as he pulled off his hitai-ate and tied it as a tourniquet around Guy's upper thigh.

Guy gripped his shoulder tightly and gritted his teeth. He was certain that he probably hurt the younger man, but Lee didn't complain while Guy ground out a pained, "It's fine."

Lee grimaced sympathetically and cut off one of his sleeves to dress the wound. Afterwards, his fingers lightly prodded down Guy's leg until he touched the break to his shin. Guy thought his eyes might roll back in his head as the pain radiated throughout the entire limb, but he fought the lights dancing in his vision.

Lee's focus shifted to Guy's face, sympathy and concern written across his face. Gingerly he brushed the backs of his knuckles down his marred cheek and over his tense jaw. Guy closed his hand around Lee's smaller one as he croaked, "We need to tell Lady Tsunade what's happened."

While Guy wished he could give Lee all the time he wanted to examine him, his pain was very insistent, and the Hokage needed to dispatch a team – immediately. But the village was very far away, and they were not in very good shape. He could see in the way Lee's brow furrowed as he looked into the trees that he also thought their trek might be difficult.

"We could use your SOS turtle," the genin suggested with a doubtful glance toward Guy.

Guy released Lee's hand to clutch his own chest. "Use my turtle?" he gasped, "And miss this wonderful training opportunity? We've already been able to practice first aid! Imagine what the march home will provide."

"That is what I worry about," Lee muttered as he encircled the other man and heaved him to his feet. Guy noticed how Lee naturally bore most of Guy's weight to protect his injured leg. Even exhausted, he was trying to ease Guy's troubles; Guy was touched. But he was also surprised that his former student didn't call him on his pride or whatever might have been holding him back from using an emergency communication to get them home.

Guy admitted that using the turtle probably would both get them home more easily and get the information to the Hokage much faster, but he was hesitant to go to such extreme measures. The village wasn't too far, really, and it was unlikely that there would be another immediate threat.

And maybe there was also a part of him that hoped that the Hokage had not yet noticed his absence. Having Lee's back was absolutely worth any consequence that he had to face. It always would be. _He_ always would be. He sighed and raised his chin; he would face the Hokage's wrath with dignity, even if it meant something terrible – like being sent back to chūnin.

"What are you thinking about?"

Guy glanced sideways before admitting, "What Lady Tsunade might do to us."

He felt the arm around him tighten. When Lee finally spoke, his voice was tight, "She will not punish us too severely. I was correct in my fears."

"What do you mean?"

"I forgot. You were not here the entire time." There was a pause, and Lee's voice wavered slightly when he continued, "The altar is gone from the temple, and the village nearby has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?"

Lee's voice went flat. "Decimated. Slaughtered. There were no survivors."

Guy's mind raced. _The entire village was destroyed? The rogue-nin left no survivors? How did Tsunade miss that?_ Konoha had had a duty to protect that village, and they had failed them. It hurt to think of the devastation. Of Lee seeing that devastation and knowing what it had to mean for his family on the other side of the Mirror. His heart ached at the thought of Lee racing to the temple afterwards.

"Wait, you saw the village and still came to the temple? Without sending for help? What if you had been seriously hurt?" Guy asked, looking at Lee in shock.

When Lee shrugged, Guy could see that it was not out of nonchalance but from a sense of helplessness. His words only cemented the thought for Guy, "If I could have done anything to help, to save the Mirror, to protect them…"

He didn't have to finish the sentence. Guy could hear the last five words more clearly than if he had said them: i _I would have gladly died._ /i He looked at their feet, focusing intensely on each step, so that Lee might not see the hurt in his eyes. Lee would die for the Mirror. He would risk his position with the Leaf and his life for the other village. Would Lee ever just the Leaf's again?

The two became lost in their thoughts, or so it seemed to Guy as they walked in silence. Despite their physical nearness, Lee seemed to be slipping away from him once again, and Guy didn't know what to do. He didn't want to lose him again. But he also didn't want Lee to push him away for not supporting his need to protect the Mirror. He didn't know how to reconcile the two sides of Lee.

And he was no closer to a solution when they were met by the ANBU just outside the Leaf's gates.

Lady Tsunade was as furious as he had expected. There was a great deal of shouting and finger-pointing. The word "demoted" was thrown around several times. Guy slid his eyes over to Lee who was still supporting him. A demotion would send him back to the academy. Guy was certain he had to be upset by the thought, but Lee was stoic throughout the episode.

After a long couple minutes, her shouting subsided, and Tsunade pointed at the chair nearest to Guy. She ordered, "Sit down, Guy."

Lee eased him into the chair, and Guy patted his hand gratefully before turning his attention back to the Hokage. With the threat of punishment out of the way, he suspected that they would move into what the two had actually found.

She motioned for Lee to start first. Quickly Lee ran through the scene he had found when he arrived at the small village. Guy's stomach turned as he gave a concise detailing of the state of the corpses and the destruction of the buildings. Then his words turned to the temple. He reminded Tsunade that the altar was the gateway and that it was gone. Reminded them both that there had been rogue shinobi who had gone through with him when he first disappeared, and he hypothesized that they could do it again. And he pleaded.

"Please, Lady Tsunade," he begged, "Allow me to follow the enemy-nin that escaped us."

Lady Tsunade didn't even pretend to consider as she countered, "No, you're to report to the hospital immediately and remain there until I tell you that you're free to go. And then we'll discuss your punishment for disobeying your orders."

Lee hung his head but still reached for Guy to help him stand. His arm was almost wrapped around Guy's torso when Tsunade's voice rang out again, "Leave him, Lee. Guy and I still have things to discuss."

"But Lady Tsunade, he is injured worse than I am," Lee argued. "Please allow me to take him to the hospital with me."

Guy caressed Lee's cheek. "Go on, Lee. I'll be fine."

Tsunade sounded bored as she explained, "I'll heal him here, Lee. Now do as I say."

Lee frowned but headed for the door anyway. When he froze and looked back, Guy nodded reassuringly. He could see the hesitation to leave him behind. Perhaps he shared the same worry as Guy: that this discussion would end in Guy's punishment. But either way, he had a new order and had to go; Guy just hoped he knew that.

After one last look and an impatient sigh from Tsunade, the door closed behind Lee.

* * *

 **A.N./ This chapter is dedicated to OHS1. Thank you so much for being my first ever reviewer! Without you, I might never have spelled Naruto's name correctly ;) This fic is winding down. We've only got two more chapters to go - WE'RE IN THE ENDGAME NOW, BOIIIISSSSS!**


	30. Chapter 30

The hospital was quieter than Lee remembered. When he had been sent there by Gaara during the chūnin exams, it had been bustling, loud and overcrowded. But that had been during the period after the attack on the village. Now, there were few patients. The noises of the machines and handful of people seemed to be quiet, almost nonexistent – leaving the shinobi alone with his thoughts. Obviously, his first worry was for Guy.

Or it should have been.

Guy had gotten himself into trouble with the Hokage, had disobeyed a direct order for Lee. Had gotten seriously injured for him too and had definitely saved Lee's life. Lee owed him so much for all that he had done just in that day.

So why was the Mirror the foremost worry in his mind?

He feared for Aya. For Tsung-sensei. For Daichi-sensei. How much time had passed since he had last been there? Had they forgotten about the other shinobi, the ones that they had interrogated and killed for their silence? Had they become comfortable in their dimension away from his and become complacent in their peaceful seclusion? If the enemy came through the Mirror at any moment, would they be ready to stand and fight? Or would they be taken unaware?

Lee groaned and ground the heel of his palms into his eyes. He could drive himself insane worrying like that. But he could not stop worrying either. His thoughts drifted back to the sense of blind panic that had seized him at the sight of the hole where the altar had once been. Where was it now? Would those rogue-nin be able to recreate the ritual and summon the Mirror? Would they get through? And why had he, the person capable of protecting them from his dimension, not managed to capture the enemy shinobi that had attacked them at the temple? What if that man had known where the altar was? Had Lee missed his chance to save them? Would he have another chance?

As soon as he was released, Lee knew he would start hunting for the altar. He would travel to the ends of the earth, through every land and village. He would fight any shinobi that dared to stand in his way. He _would_ find it.

He would endure any pain to keep his family safe.

His face crumpled.

Guy was his family too, though, and if Lee insisted on hunting for the altar, Guy would be right there beside him. The thought was not comforting, though. He was dragging his former sensei into danger. He had already led him straight into a fight for both of their lives. He had dragged Guy from the Leaf against Lady Tsunade's orders. He could have been branded a missing-nin and killed by enemies, all because of Lee.

Lee was not keeping Guy safe.

He let out a shaky breath and jerked on fistfuls of his hair. He had also disobeyed the Hokage's orders. He had also risked becoming a missing-nin! His worries and determination to check on the temple had softened the thought earlier, but now it hit him. He had risked so much. He was risking his life in Konoha – and his family's lives – for the Mirror.

It was like he was being pulled between two separate lives!

For the first time, he considered that those two lives might truly be irreconcilable. His need to be in the Leaf had driven him to leave the Mirror, but his need to be with those still in the Mirror was isolating him from the Leaf. He was not truly living either life!

In fact, he wondered if maybe running after the Mirror was preventing him from examining his relationship with Guy.

The thought of Guy wanting to be with him – Lee sighed as he fell back in the hospital bed. He could fly. Before, he had not given himself the chance to think of Guy wanting him. There was no chance that they could be happy together – not if Lee was still living in another dimension, even if the connection was only in his head now.

Lying in that hospital bed, he had a moment of clarity.

Guy had always been right to be afraid that Lee would leave the Leaf again. Lee had never truly planned to stay in the Leaf after returning – he just had not told himself. But why else would he have done the things that he had done? Why else would he have kept to himself? Why would he have isolated himself from his village and his team, unless he had subconsciously planned to leave, to return to the Mirror?

But while he was in the Mirror, he was always wanting to go home!

He flopped onto his side and curled into himself. Was he ever really at home? In either village? Tears leaking from his eyes, he cursed himself. His stubborn pride as a younger shinobi. He never would have hurt this way if he had not been headstrong. If he had just not left Neji and Tenten during that mission.

But he also never would have met Aya.

He never would have developed his relationship with Guy in this way.

Guy.

He sighed and wiped at his tears. Guy would not want him to cry. What was done was done. He could not change what had happened; he could only forge a path forward. But what path to forge?

He could turn his back on the Mirror.

He could turn his back on the Leaf.

Or he could keep up the half-life that he already was living.

The altar was out there somewhere. There was a chance that it could be used to hurt Aya and the Mirror. But if he insisted on finding it, he would hurt Guy and the Leaf.

He would rather die than let anything happen to either of them. But he could not be both places at once.

He was no closer to a decision.

* * *

 _ **A.N./ ONE MORE CHAPTER! ONE MORE CHAPTER! ONE MORE CHAPTER! WILL LEE RECONCILE HIS TWO LIVES? OR WILL Y'ALL BE HOOKED FOR A SEQUEL? FIND OUT NEW CHAPTER, BOIIIS! CHAPTER 31/31 COMING SOON TO !**_


	31. Chapter 31

_"But Ruth replied, "Don't make me leave you, for I want to go wherever you go and to live wherever you live; your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God" -Ruth 1:16_

* * *

Lee was still wrestling with his self-doubts when Guy appeared in the doorway the next morning. He was relieved to see the older man up and moving after their fight. Lady Tsunade had done well healing him, Lee decided while he watched Guy step into the room with no difficulties. Knowing that removed a large weight from Lee's chest, the weight of guilt over leading his dear friend into a fight to the death.

"How're you feeling?" Guy asked as he perched on the corner of the bed. His face was drawn in a way that suggested he might have been lost in his own thoughts as well. Lee found himself wondering if Guy was concerned about his health or if it was something else troubling the man.

He assured his former sensei, "I am doing quite well." To prove his point, he made a show of testing his limbs and smiling at the jonin. When the distant look in Guy's eyes did not lessen, Lee let his smile slip.

"That's good, that's good," Guy murmured distractedly. Lee could tell that his mind was an entire conversation either ahead or behind of their current one. He was certainly not in the moment, though.

"What are you thinking about, Guy?" Lee asked as he reached out to touch the jonin's hand.

Guy blinked at the touch before laughing at himself. He chuckled, "I'm getting trapped inside my own head."

He looked around the hospital room and wet his lips. "Lee," he began hesitantly, "Would you like to take a walk with me?"

"Ye-." Lee froze mid-answer. "I should wait for Lady Tsunade to clear me. She is very scary when she is angry," he replied apologetically. The Hokage was going to punish him anyway; he knew he probably should not make it worse on himself.

Guy nodded before assuring him, "I've just come from her office. She said you're cleared if you feel well enough to go."

Guy had just been with the Hokage? Lee frowned at the thought that Lady Tsunade had already been meting out punishments. He glanced at the pensive shinobi before him and wondered if he had been told both of their punishments. Or if his own punishment had been so bad that he was only thinking of it.

"Lee?"

"Oh! Yes, I would like to," he answered quickly, shaking his thoughts aside. Now he was the distracted one. He did not need to worry, though, because he was certain Guy would tell him while they walked.

However, their conversation died when they left the hospital room. The silence grew between them, with Lee occasionally stealing glances at the other man. Just waiting on him to open up.

When Guy happened to accidentally meet his eyes, a slow smile spread across his face. "How do you feel, Lee?" he asked again before adding a gentle, "Truly?"

"Well," Lee hesitated, "Physically, I feel well. The med-nin said I had pushed myself to my limit but otherwise I am fine."

Guy waited patiently for Lee to admit, "I am having thoughts that trouble me right now."

"I am too."

"How are you feeling?" Lee asked suddenly.

Guy smiled and patted his previously-injured leg. "Never better," he promised. "Lady Tsunade healed me as soon as you left."

"I did not think she would let you die," Lee quipped, "At least not in her office."

Guy chuckled as he guided Lee down the path toward the memorial stone, ignoring Lee's questioning glance. He watched as they passed the stone that marked the shinobi lost in the Third Shinobi War and felt ashamed that he was glad Guy did not stop them there. He did not want to imagine what Guy might have to say that could involve the dead. Immediately a sense of guilt involving the Mirror and Guy spiked within him again. How could his friend forgive him for dragging him into the fray like that? Lee sighed softly and glanced back at the memorial stone that they had thankfully passed, wondering if he could even forgive himself.

On down the path, the older man steered them to the reflecting pool and dropped onto the grass. He motioned for Lee to join him.

"Have you heard what your punishment will be?" Lee asked once he was sitting beside Guy.

The jonin nodded. "Yes, Lady Tsunade informed me before I came to you," he answered without continuing. Lee had to wave his hand to indicate that he wanted more information.

"It isn't horrible," Guy assured him. "I've been given a six month suspension from missions."

When Lee looked appropriately horrified, Guy laughed and continued, "During which time I am to teach taijutsu at the ninja academy."

Lee felt some relief. Guy was right; his punishment did not sound horrible. In fact, Guy's eyes seemed to be shining brightly at the thought. Lee knew that his former sensei would be a great teacher for the little kids.

He hoped Lady Tsunade was as generous with his own punishment.

"Did she tell you what she plans to do with me?"

He searched the grass intensely as he asked, his eyes taking in each individual blade, but he could hear the grimace in Guy's voice when he answered.

"No, but it didn't sound good."

He wondered if maybe the Hokage could not think of consequences horrible enough for his transgressions. Or if she wanted him on edge while he waited, nervous and worried for his future.

 _No_ , he told himself, _those are uncharitable thoughts. Lady Tsunade probably does not know what to do with me._

Guy interrupted his internal scolding, "I'm sure you want to know where we stand with the altar and the Mirror."

Something about how he said 'we' made Lee feel like he meant the two of them specifically. Like Guy had already decided and accepted that it would be him and Lee chasing the rogue nin. Lee was uncertain how he felt about the idea. He did not want to endanger Guy, but the jonin was hard to dissuade once he made his mind up.

Guy continued on, "Lady Tsunade is not assigning the mission to us." When Lee opened his mouth to protest, Guy held up a hand and added, "Currently. She's given the task of locating the altar to Master Jiraiya."

Lee thought for a moment before asking, "Is that why you met with Lady Tsunade this morning? Was he there too?"

"Lady Tsunade believes that he can find the altar through his spy network faster than we could just searching blind," Guy explained in way of an answer.

"That is... a good idea."

Guy's brow furrowed in the face of Lee's acquiescence. He gently took Lee's hand and murmured, "I expected more of an argument."

"It makes sense," Lee admitted. "Master Jiraiya would have a better chance of locating the altar. And you said that it is not our mission 'currently', which means that Lady Tsunade must have said that it will become our mission eventually."

He laced his fingers through Guy's, watching the older man's face. Guy's eyes remained obstinately on their hands.

"Am I correct?"

Guy's eyes were distant again when he looked up. Lee could tell that he was mulling something over. Possibly Lee's reaction to the news.

"Lee," he began. Lee wondered if this was about the fight at the temple - if Guy had realized that they both would have died if not for Lee's demon. Was Guy about to say that he recommended against saving the Mirror? After he had already talked about where _they_ stood in relation to it?

His fingers tensed against Guy's as the jonin continued, "You do realize that when it becomes our mission again, once Jiraiya has found it, we might be too late, right?"

Despite the horrible thought that was preying on Guy, or maybe partly because, Lee could not help but notice the 'we' again. The Mirror was Guy's mission too now.

 _Why then_ , Lee wondered, _have I let myself think that Guy is the Leaf for me? If he is so determined to do this with me._ He looked down at their intertwined fingers and consciously loosened his death grip. Guy had always been there, he realized. Since Lee returned from the Mirror. Even when he was afraid that Lee was going to disappear into the night and never be seen again. He was always there.

Instead of answering the man's question, Lee murmured, "Are you still afraid I will leave you?"

Guy seemed taken aback by the change in conversation but answered softly, "No."

Lee could read the rest of his words in his eyes. He wanted to believe that his dearest friend meant that he had faith Lee would not disobey again, but what he found in Guy's eyes told him something even more dear.

Lee raised Guy's hand to his lips and whispered across his skin, "I would never ask you to leave the Leaf behind."

"I would follow you anywhere."

"And I would never ask you to fight beside me for the Mirror."

"Your fights are my fights."

"You know that the Leaf is our home."

"But the Mirror is your family."

"You are my family."

"Then the Mirror is mine too."

Lee could find no reason to fight any further. When Guy began to lean toward him, Lee met him halfway. Their lips collided in a kiss that tasted of love, a gentle burning love. No roaring wildfire of passion swept them away; no, the love in their kiss tasted of a candle burning in a window to call them home.

Their lips broke apart, but they remained connected. Guy's forehead rested on Lee's, his hand resting below Lee's ear with his thumb stroking the smooth cheek beneath it. Lee's hand wrapped around Guy's wrist with his thumb stroking the back of Guy's hand.

It was comforting.

It was new.

But most of all, it was home.

* * *

 **A.N./** **The end has finally come! I do have a plan for the sequel, so don't think this is the last you've heard of the Village Hidden Behind the Mirror!**

 **I want to thank everyone who has commented/fav'd/followed. You've all been a huge part of the motivation to finish this story. I hope the ending wasn't underwhelming.**

 **To anyone who reads this later, I will still swoon over every notification I get on this fic. Tell me what parts made you want to yell, what parts made you smile. I want to hear your thoughts, too.**

 **Again, thank you all!**


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